Exactly, run a hospital as a business. Take away the non-profit status, end the game.
MLCRISES wrote:
Grant.Reuter wrote:
The 24k is the non-negotiated rate. Based on what they billed the insurance carrier is only going to pay the negotiated, and my guess is review the statement for duplicate billing etc. so that 24k may really not be the actual bill but what was just submitted as a claim.
Yes if you don’t have insurance it would be crazy. But they are paying for all of the tech that is sitting there that needs to be available at any one time. Even if only 10 people use it a year.
A new MRI or CT machine can be over 1-2 million dollars just for the machine. In a normal out patient setting that may get used 100s of times a week. In a hospital setting it will most likely be less but they need it there in case they need it so that cost is allocated over less people. Same thing with drugs, that may expire and never get used. They also have to price in the cost for all the people who don’t pay so you get crazy stupid numbers. There is definitely a lot of waste and crap that goes on. But running an ER end of day is just expensive.
If I purchase a piece of equipment or inventory and I don't use it well, I've made a bad business decision. I can't make my customers pay for it. Only in the hospital business do we hear about cost. We don't hear about costs in automotive industries, or software businesses. We seem to give a pass to hospital administrators. They are humble servants who are burdened by expenses. It's also odd how in every other business technology seems to help the business be more efficient and those efficiency's help to drive cost down, thus driving the price down. In healthcare, new technology drives cost up. WTF?
In my area I don't see a single healthcare provider advertising on price. I don't see a single provider advertising "we don't kill our patients". Instead I see them marketing birthing centers that rival a Ritz Carlton - this doesn't drive down cost - it drives it up.
We are not customers. We are a means to an end. Insurance companies are a surrogate customer. If a provider bills for something at $2,000 when it should be $200, and the insurance company can claim they "negotiated" the final price to be $1,000 - then the insurance company gets to tell you what a great job they did for you. Bullshit.
At the same time, the insurance company can raise rates next year, and we think, "well, it did cost $2000 for them to pull a thorn out of my finger - I guess that's how it has to be." Bullshit!
If we as consumers negotiated our care directly with the providers, the prices would be lower. If there was true competition, the prices would be lower. There is no real competition in the healthcare business.