Hospital prices are going public soon

WDBJ7 ^ | December 26, 2018 | Caslee Sims

[woodbutcher1963]

Yes, we are being reimbursed by Geico the insurance company of the person who hit my son. They pay us. They will not pay the hospital, ambulance and doctors directly. They also will not pay us unless we sign a release. So, you want to make sure there are no more bills that are going to show up or that my son does not have some medical problem that does not show up immediately.
My son’s accident was in August. Then my medical insurance company(Cigna) will want to be reimbursed for what they paid to providers. They will come after us because we have been reimbursed by Geico.

Geico already paid for my son’s car to be repaired including a rental when his car was in the shop. That was the easy part.

Basically, this whole thing has been a tremendous pain in the A$$. It could have been a lot worse. The lady who sits behind me is going through her husband’s car accident. He missed work for over 6 months because of a head injury. His truck was totaled. He was on long tem disability. Talk about a pain.

[shelterguy]

Thanks

[LegendHasIt]

I kinda like this idea, although compliance is going to make everything cost more, just like with every other government regulation.

But....They will still find a hundred ways to ‘pad the bill’, and every person who does pay out of their own pocket will be shocked at the amount, even if they did look up the prices beforehand.

And most people won’t care anyway, because either they have insurance and a fixed deductible, or are not planning to pay anything anyway.

[Typelouder]

Twenty dollars for a Tylenol and twelve dollars for the cup they bring it in.

I plan on supplementing my retirement in a few years by selling all my non-skid socks on Ebay. $20 a pair at the hospital. I figure I could get back at least $5.00! /sarcasm off

[SkyDancer]

:)

[Truthoverpower]

Don’t ever go to a hospital unless you break something or have cancer

[pax_et_bonum]

You’re very welcome.

I’ll throw in a few for you, too.

:-)

[discostu]

That’s because the list price is a lie. Insurance companies only pay a percentage of the bill presented by the doctor/ hospital/ lab. So they jack up the bill they send to get what they actually want. And eventually the insurance companies figure out they’ve been figured out and they drop their percentage. Then the bill gets bigger. It’s a silly game of hilo. If you want to find out what they actually charge tell them your insurance company is Visa.

[sitetest]

A small step forward.

As health care providers figure out they can make better margins by increasing transparency and encouraging direct payment in cash or by credit card, hopefully they will:

- offer a public cash price that excludes most of the cost of dealing with the insurance company in the middle;

- do the necessary work to figure out the entire cost of a treatment so that they can offer complete treatment pricing (”appendectomy: $1500” vs. “hospital room: $300; OR: $460; surgeon: $795; anesthesiologist: $500; Oxycontin: $25; Tylenol: $12; etc., etc. etc.);

- arrange low-cost short-term financing.

I’ve seen this already in very limited circumstances.

I go to a concierge doctor; I pay a quarterly amount, my visits are included, a comprehensive, 3-appointment once a year check-up, and a variety of routine vaccinations are covered.

Similarly, I have a lot of eye treatments, and not all of them are covered by insurance. Those not covered by insurance have a simple, single all-inclusive price, and can be financed for up to two years at no interest.

[PeterPrinciple]

A relative sells joint replacement hardware. It’s sold to the hospital which re-sells it to the patent at double the price they paid for it.

---

My goodness. My auto repair guy does much the same. Will you acknowledge that there is some overhead expense? Much overhead expense mandated by the govt...…………….

[cymbeline]

“My goodness. My auto repair guy does much the same”

You are qualitatively correct. But $4000 overhead on a $4000 part seems high.

The auto repair guys have to pay to get the part delivered to their shop, usually same day. I hope they don’t double the price on real expensive items. Also, we can shop around for auto repairs.

What overhead expenses are mandated by government?

[who knows what evil?]

Bkmrk.

[Svartalfiar]

Yes, we are being reimbursed by Geico the insurance company of the person who hit my son. They pay us. They will not pay the hospital, ambulance and doctors directly. They also will not pay us unless we sign a release. So, you want to make sure there are no more bills that are going to show up or that my son does not have some medical problem that does not show up immediately.

If he has long term issues that show up after you sign the release, I'm sure there's legal ways they still are responsible. And if you don't sign the release, I'm sure the court process would still show them as the responsible party.

I just had my truck hit (while parked), and the other guy had State Farm. No medical, but their advisor asked me if I wanted to be cut the check, or pay straight to the shop. I said me, cause that's $2500 in free CC points! BUT, as the shop finds more damage, they just file a supplemental request with State Farm, and that doesn't touch me, it all goes direct. I'm surprised Geico doesn't have an option to pay direct.

And, you can always get your car insurance involved, they may be able to help with it. I talked to USAA before calling State Farm, and the lady said since the other guy has 100% responsibility, USAA won't get involved unless I want them to.

[steve86]

I had been worried about you after boasting you had no health insurance so many times. Anyway, recommend you take daily baby aspirin in case it was a TIA and CBD in case it was an atypical seizure. Any why not on Medicare at 65?

[trebb]

Yes - because this is more useful than them calorie listings....all they do is make one feel guilty for having dessert.

[cuban leaf]

I’ll have type b. My wife turns 65 in Feb and started taking SS last feb. Her SS is $15 a month more than our mortgage payment.

Anyway, She just got notified that her SS payment will be reduced in feb to cover Medicare type B. She’s hitting the SS office Wednesday to get it cancelled. Apparently they want to fight you before they do it. The interesting thing about type B is that, apparently, you can opt in for a month and then put it on hold indefinitely, then re-instate it and the payments are the same. Or you can just put it off and when you decide to start paying for it, you’ll pay the going rate at THAT time.

We’ll do the research before she freezes it.

I don’t think type B has much value. I prefer to pay out of pocket and let the Lord take care of it. It’s what he does if we let him. We’re letting him.

[woodbutcher1963]

Yes, Geico will/did pay the auto body repair shop directly. That is because all the body shops have standardized computer programs written by the insurance companies for repairs on all automobiles. This was done years ago to keep people from scamming/kick back against the insurance companies for more than the actual cost of repairs. Eg, You go to your buddies auto repair place. He gives you an estimate for $4000 to fix your car. You submit it, and he really charges you $3000 if you pay him in cash.

However, there are no standardized medical costs for an MRI, ER visit, CAT Scan. Therefore, for bodily injury Geico, State Farm, Allstate, etc. pay the injured individual based on the original bills you get. IF you can negotiate a cheaper final payment, you will actually make money on the accident.

We also talked to State Farm(our insurer). They stated that they do not get involved unless the other party does not have insurance. That is because here in NH you are not required to carry liability insurance on your car. It is part of the Live Free or Die state I do not like. Therefore, every one carries uninsured motorist coverage on their policy.