Search:

More Patient Billing Problems

By: Doris Goodbody For this article we look at another problem. And unlike the first problem this may be built into the system. One could argue it was intentionally built into the system.
But even if the problem is mere coincidence it still gives me pause. All bedside care givers from nurses to techs to dietitians to lab personal all try to give quality care. But the focus seems to shift once the patient is discharged and the billing people are in the picture.
I have seen and audited a great many hospital and medical bills. So even though that last statement about billing seems bold I am still dumbfounded with the blatant excesses I see on the bills.
In future articles I will go over some sample bills. I will show you how they are set up, and believe me it isn't with consumer readability or understanding at the forefront.
But beyond that here is a quote from the American Hospital Association on billing practices as aired on CBS News 60 Minutes. "Actually, what hospitals charge for a service is the same for everybody, whether they have insurance or not. What's confusing for everybody is that what a person ends up paying in this country can be very different," says Carmela Coyle, The senior vice president for policy for the American Hospital Association.
It is confusing, another way to look at is that portable chest x-ray costs the same for everyone. But I might pay lesser for it than you.
Clear as mud right? And that is what I mean by the problem is inherent in the system.
Each hospital has a master list called the "charge master". In it all the services and supplies in the hospital are priced. Then when a patient is billed some are given discounts while others pay the full Charge Master price.
But to make matters worse, hospitals keep this charge master secret. And as Gerard Anderson, a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University notes, "That information isn't available to you. In the hospital sector, you can't do any comparative shopping. And because you can't do comparative shopping, the hospital has no reason to control prices." Thankfully that is beginning to change however.
I would call Dr. Anderson an expert on this. He helped the government draft the rules Medicare uses to reimburse hospitals for services. So his assessment is valuable, and asked why hospitals can do this Dr. Anderson said in part "... essentially, they can get away with it."
But the times they are a changing, because like taxes, everyone at some point in their life is going to get a hospital or medical bill. And in this case it happened to Richard Clarke. And because it did, he began the Patient Friendly Billing project.
That will be the basis for our next articles. What Richard Clarke has done to help us all.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

We are in the business of auditing hospital and medical bills for errors and overcharges. Let Southwest Medical Bill Review help you reduce your medical bill.

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated