I was walking with my nurse buddy today. She's like me, she and her husband buy their own insurance (she's per diem and he's retired early), and our policies are not comprehensive, but with high deductables. She's also like me, she has a heart murmur. But, unlike me, when her doctor suggested that she get a baseline echo done, she went along with that idea.
Well, lo and behold she got charged $900:eek: She was wondering why doctors don't know how much things cost and pressure people into doing tests like this, and assume everyone has great coverage and no financial concerns. When I went in for my checkup and said no, thinking it would cost $400 or $500 for an echo, the doctor put down money concerns as my reason for refusal. Yeah, money concerns and absolutely no symptoms, and feeling better than I have in years.
So, with an investment of $100,000, if you can do 10 echos and day at $900 a pop, you would be grossing $9,000 daily. You would have to pay an echo tech, plus an unreasonably outrageous fee to have a doctor interpret the echos. Still, I think you could make an extremely comfortable living and afford very nice vacations.
'Course, the insurance co and medicare aren't paying any $900/ echo. More like $150, $200 maybe. It's the people who haven't got the coverage who get scr----. Always a good idea to negotiate ahead of time if you can, like a prev. poster said.
Went to the ER when I twisted my ankle at work (partly because they shafted me when I hurt my back at work) - they billed (themselves) $110 FOR AN ACE WRAP.
Well, according to an itemized breakdown of my ER bill, I was billed $600 just to start my IV in the ER. Then more was added on top of that for the NS. The total bill was for $2300 just for six hours in the hallway in the ER. No radiology. No ECG. Nothing else but CBC and electrolytes, IV with NS, Zofran, and a potassium pill.
It's billing by thievery. It's over-billing to make up for society's malcontents who never pay.
In my old ER billing system having an IV at all would automatically place you as a level 4 (out of 5) in the billing structure. They assume that if you have an IV you are of a certain acuity, and bill accordingly. A level 1 was $100 base charge, and with each level the charge doubled. Just for the bed, no pills, no MD exam, no tests.
A few years ago I paid $1000 for a scheduled CT, and I happened to have exactly $1000 deductible on my insurance, lucky me.
Our system of healthcare is broken. No other "free market" business would get away with what insurance companies (and hospitals for that matter) get away with.
I had one done a few years ago, when I was considerably more ignorant about things, and depended on the physician referral (and, funny to look at now, I work for this company now). I really wish I had asked about the price.
It was over $2000. For an echo. Insurance considered unnecessary, and did not pay a cent. I was slightly miffed. The facility that performed the echo found out insurance was not paying, and before I even got the bill slashed the price in half, calling it a private pay discount. Still cost me over a grand (I paid it, I always pay my bills, and in this case I learned a LOT about getting prices first!)
birdgardner
333 Posts
'Course, the insurance co and medicare aren't paying any $900/ echo. More like $150, $200 maybe. It's the people who haven't got the coverage who get scr----. Always a good idea to negotiate ahead of time if you can, like a prev. poster said.