An average day in the U.S. health care system. Here’s a Quest Diagnostics bill for some blood tests:
The good news is that the patient paid only $103 for the tests ($83 via insurance; $20.67 via an efficient paper bill mailed in USPS) that are worth $1,559. The rain on this parade is that there is no world in which these tests are worth 15X what Quest gladly accepted as payment under United Healthcare’s negotiated rate. The only time that $1,559 would have kicked in is if Quest were pursuing a patient whose insurance fell through the cracks somehow.
I still can’t figure out how it is legal for Quest or any other health care provider to pursue an uninsured patient for 15X the fair price for its services (where “fair” = what 98% of customers pay).
Related:
- San Francisco’s city-owned, Mark Zuckerberg-financed hospital ripping off patients with bills that are 6X the fair price: New York Post
I can’t figure out how it is legal for A Mother’s Love Mega Healthcare, Inc. to deny all subsequent claims if I mention the word “back”. Or how it is legal for corporate bean-counters to practice medicine. But then, I’ve very ignorant of health-care laws and de facto practices, maybe I ought to ask my Ivy League trained lawyer friend in Florida. Oh wait, he only represents the under served physician-class; his assistant is adamant that his schedule is very booked, no time for college chums.
P.S.
What about the legality of my $2000 a month ObamaCare premiums (if I could afford them).