Although we’ve addressed the difficulty of knowing the cost of medical care before the bill arrives, few recent stories have illustrated the problem as well as one widely covered last week, including by the New York Times. A hospital in Livingston, N.J., for one example, charged an average $70,712 to implant a cardiac pacemaker, while….
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Medical Providers Make You Look Sicker on Paper to Increase Profits
Anyone who has ever reviewed, inquired about or disputed an itemized medical charge has been introduced to the arcane world of bill coding. Every procedure, from the administration of an aspirin in the hospital, the use of a surgical sponge or the blood draw for a lab test, is assigned a code number. As reported….
Continue ReadingThe Impossibility of Asking Patients to Control Health Care Spending
Health-care business writer Merrill Goozner recently analyzed a report from the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM). It showed that in 2009, half the U.S. population (150 million people) spent an average of $236 per person on health care, or $36 billion of the $1.3 trillion in personal health-care expenditures. Only 5 percent of….
Continue ReadingUninsured Hospitals Compound Potential Patient Malpractice Harm
Suppose you need gall bladder surgery. Suppose there’s a prestigious urban teaching hospital nearby with lots of famous doctors and researchers who get a lot of media attention for all the ground-breaking work they do. Suppose it’s in your insurance network and your surgeon has privileges in its OR. Perfect, right? Maybe. But suppose you….
Continue ReadingSeniors Stop Taking Antidepressants When They Fall Into Medicare’s Donut Hole
The advent of Medicare’s Part D drug plan introduced everyone to the concept of the “donut hole.” That’s the point at which prescription drug coverage ceases for a period during which the plan member pays full price. The gap closes when the patient has spent a set amount for drugs, and subsidies resume. As reported….
Continue ReadingWhy the Broccoli Analogy Doesn’t Work
The legal attack on “Obamacare” — the Affordable Care Act — often asks the question: If the government can make you buy medical insurance, couldn’t it also make you buy broccoli? A lot of us chafe at this glib analogy, which masks the free rider problem with uninsured patients who drive up the costs of….
Continue ReadingGetting a Handle on High Deductible Insurance Plans
What with the uncertainty of the Obama Administration’s health-care reform and the increasing cost of medical care, few areas of U.S. commerce are as volatile as health insurance. But one segment of that industry is decidedly popular, although it’s fraught with “what-ifs.” In one year, between January 2010 and January 2011, high-deductible insurance plans grew….
Continue Reading“Say What? The Problem with Hearing Aid Costs?”
The next time you’re annoyed by someone with impaired hearing who constantly asks you to repeat what you’ve said, try to restrain the urge to ask,”Why don’t you get a hearing aid?” Because for many such folks, the answer might be that they can’t afford it. As reported by KaiserHealthNews.org (KHN), a hearing aid typically….
Continue ReadingSurprise! This Medical Bill Isn’t Covered by Insurance!
Before your gall bladder surgery, you did everything you were supposed to. You made sure the hospital, lab and surgeon were part of your insurer’s provider network. You cleared the time off from work. You completed all the preliminary lab tests. You bought some cool new pajamas, and brought your own pillow to the hospital…..
Continue ReadingHealth Savings Accounts for the Private Sector
If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a whole culture to ensure adequate health care for all. One Idaho obstetrician recently explained to his state’s legislators how he thinks it can be done. Dr. Loel Fenwick, as reported by the Idaho Reporter, said in order to curb the rising cost of….
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