The article below was part of the editorial page from the Chicago Tribune today. I have a problem with the medical community and their secretive pricing practices. I want to know. Part of why they don't want you to know is the price for any given procedure is all over the map. In South Carolina at least Blue Cross tries to help people get a handle on this big time expenditure which fewer and fewer insurance companies are paying for and which fewer and fewer employers are providing. We are soon ALL going to have to negotiate our own health care costs.
My son and his wife are about to have their 4th child. Maternity costs are nationwide from $4-11,000. Oh, the medical community will tell you there are qualitative differences. I'll give you that is a reason for some of the price difference but there is a limit. That price range is way out of whack. By the way, the national average for doc, hospital and baby is $8800 according to a study released yesterday. When our son was born, total costs were about $600 in 1967. Prices have gone up but not that much.
I did some research on what Medicaid pays for the mother in Chicago for a delivery. A little over 3 grand. That's everything. That may be too low. His doc has told him expect a bill for 10 grand. Something is seriously wrong with this picture.
Recently I was recommended to have a Colonoscopy. The price proffered was $2500. I'll give you this. That's not something I want to do at any price as patient or provider. But, then today I run across this story in the Trib. If I fly to California I can get the same procedure done for $424. I think I can go there, fly back, and enjoy a nice meal in CA, visit the beach and still save money.
We need transparency in medical pricing. The idea that a doctor can just prescribe a procedure and expect us to just buy it sight unseen without questioning the price is ludicrous. We don't buy anything else that way.
I'm the customer, they're the supplier. Tell me what you have, I'll decide. Last go round, I parted company with a doctor because I didn't like what he decided in my behalf for me to do. I asked too many questions. Expected him to act in my behalf. He expected me to act in his interest. We parted company. Now I have a new doctor. I'm hopeful this relationship will go better. She seems nice.
It's really like finding an auto mechanic. If the guy I'm talking too doesn't offer to get my car fixed at a price I'll accept (he must tell me before I allow him to start. That's the LAW in ILLINOIS) I'll go somewhere else or maybe decide NOT to have the procedure done if I understand the risks. I use more than one mechanic. I don't have the $75/hour guy change my oil or balance my tires and I don't expect the $20/hour guy to quiet my noisy tappet. I am dilligent in keeping my auto in order but I'm a careful shopper. I expect to pay what the mechanic quoted. That's the law. I seldom go back to the dealer after the warranty runs out. The price of their work can be double what the guy in the local garage does it for. And, the net results of their action are the same or I don't pay.
In any case, if I'm not well, my first contact is the maker of the body I carry with me. That solves most things. I take care of it but I am very careful to make sure the Doc I see keeps to the Hippocratic oath, "First do no harm". That includes my pocketbook.We need more of this transparency in medicine. Read the article.
How much, doc?
Published June 13, 2007
So you need an EKG and you wonder what it's going to cost you? If you're in Southern California, you can just click over to the Web site of HealthCare Partners Medical Group, which has listed the out-of-pocket prices for 58 common procedures. By offering price information about medical services, the mammoth medical group, which serves more than 500,000 Californians, gives its patients the opportunity to be more discerning consumers of health care.
EKG? $45. Colonoscopy? $424. Chest X-ray? $61.
Of course, to make informed decisions on purchasing health care, consumers need to look beyond sticker prices. The HealthCare Partners Web site makes the job easier by allowing patients to quickly and easily access studies -- government and non-profit -- that offer information on how the group stacks up against local competitors (Hint: It usually comes out ahead).
Self-congratulatory? Yes. Useful for people? Absolutely.
Transparent pricing isn't the be-all of health care. The physician or hospital with the lowest prices isn't necessarily the best deal. Not, for instance, if they're likely to order up unnecessary tests and pump up the final bill.
Comparison shopping for medical care isn't easy, particularly if you don't have an insurer to do some of the work for you. But the chance to make comparisons beats the alternative: knowing little or nothing about the cost and quality of the health care you will receive.
It would be good if more providers went the way of HealthCare Partners Medical Group, giving consumers a better chance to find high-quality, competitively priced care in a crowded marketplace.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
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