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View Full Version : NPR reported on 109K heart attack hospital bill, adjusted to $332




kpitcher
09-01-2018, 04:57 PM
Have to publicly shame healthcare before they take an interest in correcting things. I bet no one loses their job for incompetence, overbilling is probably part of their unofficial job description.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/08/31/643342598/his-109k-heart-attack-bill-is-now-down-to-332-after-npr-told-his-story


A Texas hospital that charged a teacher $108,951 for care after a 2017 heart attack told the patient Thursday it would slash the bill to $332.29 — but not before a story about the huge charge sparked a national conversation over what should be done to combat surprise medical bills that afflict a growing number of Americans.

The story of Drew Calver was first reported by NPR and Kaiser Health News on Monday as part of the "Bill of the Month" series, which examines U.S. health care prices and the troubles patients run up against in the $3.5 trillion industry.

timosman
09-01-2018, 05:09 PM
It is nice to know how flexible the billing is. :cool:

asurfaholic
09-02-2018, 11:19 AM
Jeez that’s a massive cut.

I get all bent out of shape if someone asks me to adjust a bill even $10-50. But my defense is that the bill is fair and just the first time. I specifically tell people there is no fluff in it.

Madison320
09-02-2018, 03:23 PM
I predicted last year that the Democrats would run on universal health care, possibly in 2018 and definitely in 2020. This is just the beginning. All bets are off if the economy collapses before then.

kpitcher
09-02-2018, 04:36 PM
I predicted last year that the Democrats would run on universal health care, possibly in 2018 and definitely in 2020. This is just the beginning. All bets are off if the economy collapses before then.

The republicans really screwed the pooch by having complete control and not even having a real healthcare plan ready to go from day 1. They've had years to prepare! Even if wall street is doing good healthcare is going up. These co-pays and co-insurance hikes are getting silly. This sort of overcharging doesn't help the healthcare industry image at all either.

When the latest studies show that universal healthcare would cost the same as what people are paying out of pocket it becomes a harder argument to say it's going to cost the country more. Of course those studies don't address what happens with the collapse of a 3 trillion dollar a year industry if health insurance suddenly isn't needed. The healthcare lobbyists will stop it before it becomes a serious issue.

Same with flat tax, or someone like Rand shredding 70,000 pages of tax code. The entire tax industry will make sure that never actually happens. So many industries are so large it'll be business as usual regardless who are what tries to change them for better or worse.

Jamesiv1
09-02-2018, 04:48 PM
I predicted last year that the Democrats would run on universal health care, possibly in 2018 and definitely in 2020. This is just the beginning. All bets are off if the economy collapses before then.
I predicted this in the Spring of 2007.

Madison320
09-03-2018, 08:22 AM
The republicans really screwed the pooch by having complete control and not even having a real healthcare plan ready to go from day 1. They've had years to prepare! Even if wall street is doing good healthcare is going up. These co-pays and co-insurance hikes are getting silly. This sort of overcharging doesn't help the healthcare industry image at all either.

When the latest studies show that universal healthcare would cost the same as what people are paying out of pocket it becomes a harder argument to say it's going to cost the country more. Of course those studies don't address what happens with the collapse of a 3 trillion dollar a year industry if health insurance suddenly isn't needed. The healthcare lobbyists will stop it before it becomes a serious issue.

Same with flat tax, or someone like Rand shredding 70,000 pages of tax code. The entire tax industry will make sure that never actually happens. So many industries are so large it'll be business as usual regardless who are what tries to change them for better or worse.

The problem is that the current system is so far removed from free market health care that it's basically a patchwork version of universal healthcare already.

My guess is the economy crashes from debt before 2020 and then all the predictions are out the window.

devil21
09-03-2018, 10:22 AM
I predicted last year that the Democrats would run on universal health care, possibly in 2018 and definitely in 2020. This is just the beginning. All bets are off if the economy collapses before then.

It'll be instituted eventually, even if Republicans have to be the ones to do it. The economic outlook will require it but we're in the middle of a hegelian dialectic where gov't involvement in health care caused prices to shoot up so of course the solution is something that expands gov't control further.