In the New York Times on Friday, Roni Caryn Rabin writes a great article about the crazy price hikes that hospitals and medical clinics impose upon patients who come to them from “out of the network.” Examples include a more than $6,000 doctor visit, one for which Medicare would have paid less than $200. Examples of these huge fees are shown in this picture:
To be fair, these are extreme examples. But they point to a bigger problem: a lack of price transparency, a topic I’ve written about a few times and which I plan to revisit soon. Post these prices up on a board over the check in desk and . . . and these prices would come down dramatically. It is only by taking care of patients who don’t know these prices that doctors and hospitals can charge such unjustifiable fees. (Click here to view comments)