Perhaps someone should have told Obammy
Paying Medical Bills in Cash Slashes Costs Most Americans are unaware that many hospitals and doctors offer deep discounts for patients who pay in cash — as long as they don’t use their health insurance.
One hospital in California lists the price of a CT scan of the abdomen on its website at $4,423. Blue Shield of California says it negotiated a rate at the hospital of about $2,400 for patients with coverage.
But when the Los Angeles Times asked for the cash price, the hospital said it was $250.
The newspaper cited the case of a woman who was charged $6,707 for a CT scan of her abdomen. Blue Shield said she needed to pay just $2,336. She later discovered that if she had not gone through her insurance plan and paid cash, the cost would have been $1,054.
David Belk, an internist in Alameda, Calif., who launched a website about medical costs, pointed to the vast differences in costs for routine blood work. He said a local hospital charged a patient $782, and her insurer said she owed $414.
“She could have gotten it for $95 in cash,” Belk said. “How does that make sense? The last thing the insurance companies want you to know is how inexpensive this stuff really is.”
Hospitals have been trying to increase revenue by encouraging patients to pay upfront so the hospital can avoid an uncertain collections process, the Times reported.
“Cash prices — typically available for hundreds of common outpatient services and tests — have a real appeal to millions of consumers who are on the hook for a growing share of their medical costs as employers and insurers cut back on coverage and push more high-deductible plans,” the paper observed.
The California Hospital Association asserted that discounted cash prices are intended for patients without insurance, not those with coverage, but added that most hospitals offer a different discount to insured patients who are willing to pay their bill upfront.
