One can understand why Paula D’Amore is a tad confused. The South Florida mother gave birth in a car in a hospital parking lot. When the bill from the hospital came in, she was charged the full cost for a hospital delivery of $7,000. It is a story that sums up what many of us view is the inherent dishonesty in hospital charges.
Daniella was born in the fire lane of the Boca Raton Regional Hospital, but somehow occupied a full delivery room and staff inside of the building. It reminds me of the Monty Python skit:
D’Amore never even made it to the delivery room.
We have all seen such astronomical charges by hospitals to file with insurance companies. There seems to be little deterrent in such cases, particularly with limited ability of patients to contest charges. This was supposed to be one of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act in creating mega-data banks that could track costs and over-charges.
They might want to look at the immaculate delivery charges at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
davidm2575, I don’t know where you live but you are very fortunate. Because most folks w/o insurance pay way more — and often they cannot even see a specialist unless they can pay up front.
Autumn, I live in Florida. I have to pay upfront if I visit a doctor or dentist at their office. The hospital does not require payment upfront. I have no problem with paying upfront for services I want. In fact I prefer it. I have a problem with paying for services that I do not want. That’s what everybody does when they buy insurance. People who buy insurance are ruining it for everyone. They are trying to get something for less money, but they end up making it cost more for everybody down the road.
As some people on this blog may remember from past comments, I do not have health insurance by choice. I don’t like insurance. The idea of betting a company that I will have more health problems than the rest of society seems like a bad bet to me. Also, I believe insurance has facilitated the high cost of medical care. Obamacare was nothing but an Insurance Company bailout. Now I have to pay more than $2,000 in fines for not buying health insurance, and the amount of the fine against me rises every year. That is not right, to force me to buy something that I do not want to buy or pay a fine.
I had a cardiac health problem earlier this year and a doctor persuaded me to check into the hospital. This was one of the worst decisions I ever made. It sent me on a path that I did not want to be on, and I am still trying to figure out how to get back to my previous path that was one without medical care. Many people wrongly believe that insurance companies negotiate good deals with health care professionals. I don’t know whether that happens or not, but I can tell you that the hospital and doctors all billed me at greatly reduced rates. The hospital policy is to reduce the hospital bill by 80% automatically just because I was uninsured. Medical doctors would invoice me with a 50% discount offer because I was uninsured. I am looking at a doctor bill right now that says, “In consideration of your uninsured status, we are willing to extend a 50% prompt pay discount.” So instead of $1,608, they will accept $804. Every medical bill I have ever paid in my life has been like this. The uninsured always get better deals on medical care than the insured.
The $1,608 bill above was from a doctor who saw me for less than 5 minutes. I handed him test results from other doctors who spent much more time on me doing tests. His bill equates to an hourly rate of $19,296. Such an hourly rate is unconscionable. I saw other doctors who spent much more time with me and would bill me more like $250, an amount I considered very reasonable and was happy to pay them for their expertise. The problem is that when doctors gouge others with high prices, and the insurance companies readily pay such bills, the abuse goes on because they get paid. If everybody were to pay their own bills, the entire system would change because nobody would allow medical professionals to get away with gouging them like this. You can either think wrongly like Justice Ginsburg that people need insurance in order to pay for medical care, or you can realize that the insurance companies is the primary problem with the system and the best thing for a free society is not to force people to prop up the insurance companies.
david you speak of paying your own bill: do you not realize that you’re romney’s 47%. that we’re paying your bill?
puzzle pieces fit together but they aren’t rectangles & squares. one guy dies on the day he retires & the next guy lives to be 110. you aren’t the balance on your own.
June, either you do not understand my post or you are imbibing the kool-aid of liberalism and just repeating propaganda that you do not understand. You are not paying my bill. The medical profession overcharges for services because insurance companies enable it. That is why insurance company CEO’s and healthcare CEO’s are among the one percenters. Check out this table of salaries from http://medcitynews.com/2015/06/what-were-the-top-healthcare-ceo-salaries-last-year/
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david i completely agree that these CEOs are way over compensated. i don’t claim otherwise. i don’t agree that you claiming indigence solves this or any other problem. i believe that a new born infant with spinal bifida should get a reduced rate, not an able bodied grown man. you bet that you wouldn’t have health problems. my position is that the bet didn’t work as you’d planned & now you want a reduced rate. i don’t respect your gripe. i support a single payer system. for those who want special treatment & all sorts of elective surgery & all manner of unnecessary medical coddling: pay for that in a 2 tiered system.
June, I never claimed indigence! What are you talking about? I make a six figure income and I pay my bills. And I never asked for a reduced rate. When they ask me for my insurance information, I inform them that I don’t have insurance. Then they automatically offer me their reduced rate. I give all my income information when asked for it, and they still offer me a reduced rate. That is their policy for uninsured people.
And I am not griping about anything other than the fact that insurance companies are fooling most people in society. Insurance companies are like used car salesmen showing the before and after price. The used car salesman says, “the sticker price on this car is $100,000, but for YOU, good news, you only need to pay $1,000. Look at how much money you saved by shopping with us!” The insurance company does the same thing, glossing over all the premiums you have paid in over your lifetime, they show you the retail price of your services and then show you the actual cost to you and exclaim how much money you saved by having insurance.
I am just reporting how it works for those of us who are uninsured. Some people think insurance companies are good at negotiating reduced rates for their constituents. Some people think insurance companies save them money. My experience as an uninsured person who rarely uses medical healthcare is very different. Even after my experience with congestive heart failure leading to a hospital stay, I do not feel compelled to buy health insurance. I did not take their bet, and I am still glad that I did not.
The “patient” should sue the hospital for a declaratory judgment that the billing is false.