As Hospital Prices Soar, a Stitch Tops $500 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/03/health/as-hospital-costs-soar-single-stitch-tops-500.html?hpw
$36 for a Tylenol pill is just way out of bounds. And most of those other figures aren't much better. And this whole notion of charging people with insurance a higher rate to cover everybody that gets free care is just complete bullshit.
Seriously, guys, this whole thing is a scam. And it's only in the US that this situation exists. The same Tylenol costs a LOT less in any other country.
"At Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, Daniel Diaz, 29, a public relations executive, was billed $3,355.96 for five stitches on his finger after cutting himself while peeling an avocado. At a hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., Arch Roberts Jr., 56, a former government employee, was charged more than $2,000 for three stitches after being bitten by a dog. At Mercy Hospital in Port Huron, Mich., Chelsea Manning, 22, a student, received bills for close to $3,000 for six stitches after she tripped running up a path. Insurers and patients negotiated lower prices, but those charges were a starting point." two words: butterfly bandages
the folks on medicare/medicaid get most of this for free, and they run multiple tests , the guy with the 3 stitches probably had several x-rays and a brain scan also, so the one getting hosed is the US taxpayer, courtesy of your elected officials and the lobbysts mafia, another reason to vote out the machine, anyone with an R or a D should be weeded out in every election,the only power we have
It is very possible that people abuse the Emergency Room, and demand drives price. But this is almost certainly lack of education. If people were trained on how to help themselves by going to Walgreens first before the Emergency Room, prices may not be so ridiculous.
Pure lies by the NYTimes. The reason hospital bills are so expensive are all the damn and rules and regulations. It is not because "there is no price regulation". Price regulation, now? Really? If they start capping prices, quality of care will deteriorate. Hospitals charge these prices because they are forced to due to all the administrative costs and insane regulations. Boy oh boy, if this is the attitude of the American people, we're in for some very very tough times ahead.
While I have a lot of respect for your opinion, I have to disagree with you on this. You may or may not know that I lived in France for 8 years. I had a few incidents where I had to use the dentist before I had the insurance. So I was forced to pay out of pocket for a root canal. The doctor charged me 120 euros. The thing that brought up the conversation was that I brought 1k euros in cash to the office and he asked why I brought so much...and then he asked how much it costs in the states. I told him that if I had the insurance it could cost me near 1000. I asked him if he wanted to charge me more and he said that he did not want to risk it, because if I came back and questioned him, he is not allowed to charge more money then what the social security will pay for on that procedure. So if he charged me more, and I found out that the limit of the root canal was only 120...I could report him and he could have a lot of legal problems. That is how the rest of the world controls the price of healthcare, with price controls. I think australia is pretty bad about dental prices as well. I am still amazed that people are barking out that people should use butterflies from walgreens and that people getting stitches is why it costs 600 a stitch. Wrong answer, its because there are no price controls. I have only ever had to visit the ER for 1 stitch in my life, the rest were handled with butterfly's from walgreens so I can relate to the hatred for people that visit the ER. But the fact that there is no controls on the price is why everyone can get away with charges such high prices. Another scam is that I pay 150-300 a month in health care premiums. When I visit a doctor I still pay $40, I have to pay 30% of my bills after my $700 deductable.....are you kidding me?? I am basically paying for nothing! I am actually going to mexico next week, will have my teeth cleaned while I am there, $25USD.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9LnY-jy_cE0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> This democracy thing sounds dangerous. Thankfully America Inc does a good job of buying its politicians to maintain the status quo.