Bahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!
I am guessing you are the type that wants his healthcare for free.
I bet you bitch and moan about believing your time is worth more than you are paid.
But hey, why not go get your nursing or MD degree and treat yourself so you don’t have to worry about “extortion”.
So you have uninsured, insured in network, insured out of network, then Medicare/Medicaid.
Of the uninsured you have those that will pay and those that will not.
Different insurance companies negotiate different prices with providers and facilities.
I worked at two university medical centers and one private, nonprofit facility. Each year at each facility we would write off millions in unpaid services.
Last university I worked for we got reimbursed $0.25 per dollar charged to Medicare/Medicaid.
There have been payment plans and even incentives which lowered bills for uninsured at all three hospitals I worked at.
A lot of the cost associated with care is due to the layering and waste that government and credentialing agencies have created. Joint Commission is a ****ing mob. Perfect example, study upon study has shown zero bacterial growth in IVs at more than 96 hours. Yet when I left patient care an IV set needed to be started on a patient within 4 hours or we had to toss it due to JC. Propofol, comes in multi-use vials yet they can only be used on one patient due to JC. The list goes on.
I truly believe JC is made up of hacks that passed the school work but failed practicals and now want to make their mark on the history of healthcare. No sane person that has worked any actual time in the field would make the rules they do. Their policies and regulations lack scientific basis.
Again, cost comes down to a government problem and insurance problem more than hospital problem. Most hospitals make very little in profit.
I’m collecting dildos for broke ass hoes. I call it, “Toys for THOTs”
Another example that doesn’t make sense...
Crash carts.
For those who don’t know, picture the lower box on a 42” tool chest, with a numbered plastic lock on it. These are filled with multiple rounds of first line cardiac drugs, arrhythmia meds, and many, many other drugs/shit that we never used. Ever.
Part I never understood was, once that tab was broken, that patient had to pay for whatever was in the entire cart...somewhere around $100k. It wasn’t like the pharmacy was going to throw away all the unused items, it was straight up robbery.
These were used mainly for coding a patient and despite what Grey’s Anatomy or ER would lead you to believe CPR only works about 0.02% of the time.
We would regularly tell the family of the newly departed NOT to pay the bill.
I vividly remember a lady in her late 30’s saying “but he (her dad) had perfect credit, we can’t not pay it” to which I replied “I’m pretty sure they don’t take credit where he is now...”