Stories like this make me crazy. Of course, we can’t talk about the only sane solution, because that would upset the establishment apple cart.
Medical costs
2 thoughts on “Medical costs”
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Stories like this make me crazy. Of course, we can’t talk about the only sane solution, because that would upset the establishment apple cart.
Comments are closed.
From the article: ‘There was an almost vengeful attitude toward insurance companies, the idea that “I’ve been paying in, and now I’m going to get what I’m owed,” … The motivation that “I’m sick and I don’t want to think about the money,” that’s understandable. But “I want to hurt the insurance company”? Why?’
I could think of a few reasons.
As for the premise, that sucks too. *Everybody* wants the best care to be the priority. Not just “patients.”
Also, have the researchers even tried finding out what a procedure or a drug costs before getting the bill? It’s impossible. I’ve tried to do that a few times, and always the answer from the billing office (the goddamn billing office!) is the same: “We won’t know until it’s run through the system because we never know how the insurance company is going to handle it.”
And this just a couple of days ago in the LATimes: when a prescription drug costs 30 times more depending where and when you buy it.
What quixote said.
Plus I tried to get my GP to coordinate with my endo on bloodwork, to use the same test results as they both needed things which were the same. It was incredibly difficult. The lab made it onerous, with several sheets of paperwork. The office of the doc getting a copy would often toss the results since none of their docs was named as ordering it. And so on.
Infuriating.
Also, I would be told that to get a refill for prescriptions for chronic ailments, for which I’ve had to take medicine since my early 20’s, I would be told I had to come in for an appt to get a refill, that the insurance company required it. Riiiiight. This happened increasingly after HMO’s began putting payment pressure on docs; I think they felt they needed what little they got from the insurance company for a visit to help them meet their revenue requirements.
Once I got on Medicare, I tried to find out how various supplemental plans would cover things I knew I would need over the year — got the runaround that quixote described. No one knew, or I had to have the precise medical code. If I provided that I would be told by an insurance company clerk that no one could tell whether the item would be covered until it was submitted.
And, the example of CT vs. MRI? It depends on what the doctor must find out in order to treat the condition. Sheesh. If a CT will do it, that’s what the doctor should order; if the MRI is required, order that.