“if you are too stupid to determine and to understand that going to an ER for something NON-EMERGENCY is going to cost you more, and possibly A WHOLE LOT MORE”
One problem is, many who use the ER for a non-emergency DO understand what they’re doing.
They are uninsured or on Medicaid and will pass their costs on to taxpayers and the insured. They come to the ER because they would have to pay a doctor bill otherwise.
I had to go to the ER late one night for a broken finger, and I noticed entire families there for the little one that had a cough.
It was obviously a family affair for some folks. They even brought dinner for their crew in some cases.
My husband is uninsured. He went to the ER with possible stroke symptoms. We got the bill we paid. We did get a cash discount but nowhere near the discount you would see on an insurance EOB. The truth is that hospitals inflate their charges. Then Medicare pays according to their rates. Private insurance also pays according to their contract rates. So it is only fair that self pay gets to negotiate as well.
Now if the billed charges reflect the true cost of health care and everyone (who pays) is paying a negotiated rate at some point the hospital will have to shut down because they cannot afford to operate. More likely the hospital has figured out the true cost and ups the bill to cover non-paying indigent care. Which at one point was also figured into the costs. But with the rise of care for illegal immigrants and lower reimbursements for medicaid patients that is becoming more and more untenable.
So while hospitals are hoping for more money from providers, providers are wanting to put more restrictions on payments. You can guess who ends up getting shafted, the patient who has faithfully paid premiums.