(Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images)
When Jimmy Kimmel’s child was diagnosed with a serious heart condition, Kimmel realized that people without his wealth (or his generous insurance coverage) would not be able to pay for the life-saving care that his child received, if their children were to be similarly ill. So he gave a moving monologue one evening, explaining why he now believes that healthcare policies should be judged by whether they keep finances from being a barrier to receiving lifesaving care, a view that some now call “The Jimmy Kimmel Test.”
Kimmel’s monologues on this topic have gone viral, but it doesn’t look like hospital ERs have gotten the message. Too often, they charge patients outrageous prices for their services, especially when people don’t have insurance.
Do you think these hospital ER prices are irrelevant for you, because you have insurance? Think again.
Suppose you are on vacation when your diabetes spins out of control. Or you are shopping at a local mall when you have a fainting spell. You are rushed to the nearest hospital by an ambulance crew to an emergency room, where you get an IV, an EKG, and other state-of-the-art care. All is good, until you receive the bill.
According to a recent study, if you happen to receive care in a for-profit hospital emergency department that’s out of your insurance network, you can expect a bill that’s almost six times higher than what Medicare would have paid for those same services. Did you get an EKG? Medicare would have paid $16 for that test. Your bill could be more than $300, a bill that you will have to pay, not your insurance company.
(To read the rest of this article, please visit Forbes.)