Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Everyone is talking about public and private insurance, but no one seems to be focusing on why it cost so much for medical treatment. The below link is the cost by procedure.
Could someone please explain to me why it costs 26,000 to fix a broken leg. We will never get affordable health care if we can't control the costs.
How can you justify 26,000 for x-rays on the leg, plaster and to reset the leg...all of which can be done in a couple hours. Please do tell.
The fact is we focus so much on insurance carriers. We tend to forget how much we are getting ripped off by hospitals. Of course most of us don't see the bill since Insurance pays most of it, but maybe that is why insurance is so high.
Its not all this but malpractice insurance for medical practioners has skyrocketed the past 10 yrs. Its even required for nurses who don't make much to begin with. I know several people going through med school right now and will leave at least a couple hundred thousand in debt. Their salaries haven't kept up pace with increasing insurance costs for themselves and med school costs have increased just as much as tuition in colleges over the past 10 years.
Tort related costs only amount to 1.5 percent of total health care costs. So you now have accounted for $390.00 what about the remaining $25,610. Tort related costs are greatly exaggerated by the health care industy. Fewer torts more profits. Not hard to see why.
Its not all this but malpractice insurance for medical practioners has skyrocketed the past 10 yrs. Its even required for nurses who don't make much to begin with. I know several people going through med school right now and will leave at least a couple hundred thousand in debt. Their salaries haven't kept up pace with increasing insurance costs for themselves and med school costs have increased just as much as tuition in colleges over the past 10 years.
This is the cost you pay to the hospital not the doctor.
I think a lot of times procedures are billed more to recoup the past times the insurance company has failed to pay for a procedure or a test....or when the insurance company has paid less money than what the procedure or test is worth.
The insurance companies actually have software that automatically downcode, bundle, and otherwise reduce doctors' fees. [Downcoding is changing the code (CPT code) of a procedure so that it reimburses at a lower rate]
I think a lot of times procedures are billed more to recoup the past times the insurance company has failed to pay for a procedure or a test....or when the insurance company has paid less money than what the procedure or test is worth.
The insurance companies actually have software that automatically downcode, bundle, and otherwise reduce doctors' fees. [Downcoding is changing the code (CPT code) of a procedure so that it reimburses at a lower rate]
These are costs the insurance companies typically pay. This is the average. This is not a special case. Please look at the link.
I think you'd be better off asking this question to your health insurance company (or possibly the person over health insurance at your job) or your doctor.
I don't know the answer to your question, but it's the elephant in the room that no one will talk about.
Last summer we took our daughter to the ER following a bad scooter crash. She had multiple abrasions and had "lost" some time right after her fall. Three hours in the ER and a CT scan cost $3,000.
Until costs can be controlled, no one--not an individual, not an insurance company, not the government--will be able to pay for care.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
