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I came across this [SIZE=3]article[/SIZE] on bloomberg.com. It is thought provoking. We are all going to have be better healthcare consumers as part of the "getting healthcare costs under-control effort", imho.
I came across this [SIZE=3]article[/SIZE] on bloomberg.com. It is thought provoking. We are all going to have be better healthcare consumers as part of the "getting healthcare costs under-control effort", imho.
Your thoughts?
To be honest, I'm more concerned with the quality of the doctor/facility than I am with cost. My husband needed major surgery several months ago, and we did lots of research on finding the best surgeon who had the best results with this type of surgery. Obviously, we needed them to take our insurance. I will say that we're very lucky to have very good insurance, and I understand for others cost becomes a bigger issue.
That said, I still try to be aware of cost. Several years ago I needed a procedure that my urologist wanted to do in an out-of-hospital surgical center. I told him I couldn't have it done there, because it was out of network with my insurance company. He then agreed to take what my insurance would pay, and negotiated the same with the anesthesiologist and pathologists.
I also won't agree to any procedure until I'm absolutely convinced it is needed.
I have coverage through my employer, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. Blue Cross requires it's pre-approval of major non-emergency surgical procedures before agreeing to pay. It also negotiates cost with the hospital/physician's group. It does these things to reign-in costs. And it's successful because it pays claims within one-week of submission and the hospitals and doctors don't have to wait. When I had surgery for prostate cancer 5 years ago the billed costs totalled about $67,000. Blue Cross paid $33,000. I paid nothing. No co-pay. Nada.
To be honest, I'm more concerned with the quality of the doctor/facility than I am with cost. My husband needed major surgery several months ago, and we did lots of research on finding the best surgeon who had the best results with this type of surgery. Obviously, we needed them to take our insurance. I will say that we're very lucky to have very good insurance, and I understand for others cost becomes a bigger issue.
That said, I still try to be aware of cost. Several years ago I needed a procedure that my urologist wanted to do in an out-of-hospital surgical center. I told him I couldn't have it done there, because it was out of network with my insurance company. He then agreed to take what my insurance would pay, and negotiated the same with the anesthesiologist and pathologists.
I also won't agree to any procedure until I'm absolutely convinced it is needed.
Yep;the5re is a great differnce in care between providers just like auto mechanic. Some are hacks and other truely gifted.One reason to have a family doctor who knows your history and can guide you thru picks of specialist .
With the prevalence of third party pay for service (private and public insurance with no/low deductibles) there are many HC consumers and even providers that really don't know the bottom line cost of a procedure.
We have a very high deductible plan so we shop for the best price on tests/treatments when we can and have found it to be more work than it should be. Pricing is not usually on a web page and it often takes numerous phone calls to get a price which is often in numerous components based upon the procedures by each department. It is surprising how many HC professionals really don't know what things cost but maybe what insurance limits are for each code.
We found the cost of a colonoscopy in our area varied from $1200 to $4700 with estimates from seven different facilities. A larger variance than you find in 90% of services and it took more than six hours of phone work to get the information.
Of all the consumer services we buy, HC is the most expensive and difficult to manage.
With the prevalence of third party pay for service (private and public insurance with no/low deductibles) there are many HC consumers and even providers that really don't know the bottom line cost of a procedure.
We have a very high deductible plan so we shop for the best price on tests/treatments when we can and have found it to be more work than it should be. Pricing is not usually on a web page and it often takes numerous phone calls to get a price which is often in numerous components based upon the procedures by each department. It is surprising how many HC professionals really don't know what things cost but maybe what insurance limits are for each code.
We found the cost of a colonoscopy in our area varied from $1200 to $4700 with estimates from seven different facilities. A larger variance than you find in 90% of services and it took more than six hours of phone work to get the information.
Of all the consumer services we buy, HC is the most expensive and difficult to manage.
Good for you for being a careful consumer and doing your homework. A $3,500 differential for a colonoscopy is surprising to me. Do I assume correctly that you are not on Medicare yet? (Lots of people post here in the Retirement Forum who haven't turned 65).
Tell me if I have this right: It seems to me that once a person is enrolled in Medicare the possibilities of "shopping around" to save money on medical procedures are extremely limited because basically Medicare pays for our medical care and the co-pays are both fixed and pretty negligible.
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Do I assume correctly that you are not on Medicare yet? (Lots of people post here in the Retirement Forum who haven't turned 65).
Tell me if I have this right: It seems to me that once a person is enrolled in Medicare the possibilities of "shopping around" to save money on medical procedures are extremely limited because basically Medicare pays for our medical care and the co-pays are both fixed and pretty negligible.
Yes, we are in our early sixties and the insurance plans that have premiums that work in our budget have high deductibles (ours are $10K per individual). When we first retired we had options at a quarter of today's cost but times have changed and our age pushed up costs.
We shop around for medical, dental, and drugs and find that many providers are so entrenched in the third-party pay mindset that they resent giving quotes or negotiating rates.
Yes, I see that the way Medicare works takes away incentives for price comparison (and competition) which is probably not good.
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