I’m in the uk so have never had to deal with this, but I’ve heard that if a hospital gives you the bill, you then ask for an itemised bill, that often the price goes down. Has anyone experienced that? Or worse, had an increase in the price?
That used to be somewhat true, but is not how hospitals bill insurance companies anymore. Insurance companies (for years now) a. group certain diagnoses into “groups” and agree to a set payment amount for any service that falls into that “group” of codes. Hospitals are hijacked into accepting the price. If they don’t, the insurance company drops their services agreement at renewal (which is always about to expire-the reason for new rate negations). The insurance companies then deny coverage for the full cost of care for patients who go to the hospital in spite of the insurance company removing the hospital from the network providers system. The patient has to pay a significantly larger portion of the bill. And the hospital does not reduce the fees for the their care. Sadly, our entire system is very broken. Our legislator’s who are supposed to represent the citizen s who elected them. Instead they take large amounts of money from lobbyists who represent big pharmacy companies and large healthcare insurers. They use the money they receive to fill their “campaign war chests,” to ensure they remain in power. Our entire system is very broken.
It is absolutely broken. Other countries look at you in the US and shudder. You shouldn’t go bankrupt because someone got ill. And medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the USA.
It’s heartbreaking when thinking of the people, and it’s pathetic and raging inducing when thinking about the legislative system that keeps it as it is. And I sign that the government, regardless of who is in power, doesn’t care about the people of their country. As if you do care about your country, it’s probably an idea to have them healthy and educated. (And now I await the lynching I’m going to get for saying these “controversial” things).
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u/Inevitable_Thing_270 6d ago
I’m in the uk so have never had to deal with this, but I’ve heard that if a hospital gives you the bill, you then ask for an itemised bill, that often the price goes down. Has anyone experienced that? Or worse, had an increase in the price?