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That's everywhere- not just NJ. It's part of the reason so many facilities are going under- the can only charge the insurance companies so much, and if they charged the cash customers enough to cover all the freebies, that $3,000 stitches bill would be $10,000.
When you break it down and analyze it in those terms, it seems to me the health care industry practices the credo of "From each according to ability, to each according to his needs". The old 'pass the hat, pay it forward' mentality.
That's everywhere- not just NJ. It's part of the reason so many facilities are going under- the can only charge the insurance companies so much, and if they charged the cash customers enough to cover all the freebies, that $3,000 stitches bill would be $10,000.
Which brings to the forefront the need for legislation to be enacted requiring the SAME COST be charged, AND COLLECTED for services rendered in a hospital.
The trick is, how do you force that w/o the institution overcharging?
(Sloan charged us $500 for a simple 1 hour visit to look at pathology slides and MRI's.... It saved me from a possibly very debilitating set of surgeries, granted, but $500 for a visit?)
it appeared to cost nothing but thats clearly a fallacy because the doctors involved got paid and all the people, places and products used were paid for.
Obviously I'm talking out of pocket. I take it you are consistent and never claim that using a non-toll road costs nothing, since clearly someone paid to build and maintain it. And that breathing costs nothing, since clearly someone paid for the armed forces that have made that possible for you.
It's paid for through taxation at a lower (even with private insurance on top of the tax bill) cost than the $950/month I pay for health insurance over here. And yet somehow the country isn't broke and its economy isn't collapsing like the US.
Which brings to the forefront the need for legislation to be enacted requiring the SAME COST be charged, AND COLLECTED for services rendered in a hospital.
The trick is, how do you force that w/o the institution overcharging?
(Sloan charged us $500 for a simple 1 hour visit to look at pathology slides and MRI's.... It saved me from a possibly very debilitating set of surgeries, granted, but $500 for a visit?)
Who's doing the looking? $500/hour taking into account non direct salary wages costs (holiday pay, payroll taxes, cost of support staff, cost of office equipment, cost of medical equipment, etc, etc) doesn't seem insanely high for a good doctor. Lawyers certainly happily charge that...
No equipment. Nothing. He looked at the stuff, handed it to a collegue or two. That was it. No in depth analysis, no lab tests or results.
I had a diagnosed cancer and Sloan Kettering, the #1 cancer hospital (arguably) in the WORLD was 30 miles away, less than an hour by car. But my insurance sent me an hour away to PENNSYLVANIA to another center that was "in network".
I was diagnosed with "Juvenile Astrycytic Pylocytoma " (forgive the spelling) and "mildly" malignant. 2 surgeries and multiple samples later, we went out of network to get an altering diagnosis.
All the lab work was already done.
The reason US Healthcare does not cover places like Sloan is because they charge what they want and do not accept the reduced payments that USHC would provide.
To give you an idea of HOW reduced, we found out after all this was over that, for the billed cost of over $250K, USHC only paid $83K.
So back to your question, I was billed for holiday, vacation, lab equipment, rent, commuting, education, pet day care, ornamental deoderizing candles and postage stamps for something that took less than an hour of professional time.
That just is not right, no matter how you slice, fold, or marinate it!
BTW, this was $500 in 1995.
The real stick in the side? After WE went on our own to Sloan and got a differing diagnosis (benign cystic growth) USHC actually had the nerve to ask for its money back... FROM US!
The current system stinks. I am not confident that we will get anything as good as offered in some european nations, but we definitely need some change.
It's paid for through taxation at a lower (even with private insurance on top of the tax bill) cost than the $950/month I pay for health insurance over here.
That would depend on income since it's taxes. Per capita it's under $1000/year. Given my income, while not obscene, is way above the median on a national scale it'd be using more like $8500/year of my taxes since I'd pay way more taxes than the average (but I'm not paying any at the moment, since unlike the US Australia doesn't tax people who don't reside/earn income in the country).
It'd actually be cheaper for me to fly to Australia and back to go to a hospital (well if I didn't have insurance), since I still have my medicare (unrelated to the US medicare system) card, I'd get to bludge of the actual tax payers for a change. Of course that 24 hour trip wouldn't be so great as I bled to death
Last night she received two more bills, one from the contract doctor for $870 and one from the X-ray tech for $27.
Grand total for 4 stitches now north of $3,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take a deep breath!
I'd suggest that she contact the providers, explain her poverty, and offer them 10 cents on the dollar... paid right there and then over the phone with a credit card. They may not take a dime, but I'd bet they'd take a quarter!
Often, they're not getting much more than that from the insurance companies. Try it and let us know.
That would depend on income since it's taxes. Per capita it's under $1000/year.
so this is for 1 or 2 people? the 950 a month is for 2 people right? 1,000 a year would be about 83 a month. however, im not sure how they are calculating that per capita number since not everyone works. i wonder what the actual equivalent is and what is the reason for the lower cost.
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Make an offer: ten cents on the dollar
