Hospitals Overcharging?

[MusicMedic]

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2010/03/01/cohen.health.care.bills.cnn

A medical billing advocate shows CNN's Elizabeth Cohen some of the wasteful charges she's seen in bills.

at one instance the hospital charged a $1,000 for a toothbrush

im sure this type of shady business goes on all through out the US but this is an intresting news video

 

[bstone]

Yeah I saw the video of this. It's very clear that this needs to be reinged in immediately. $4000 here, $5000 there...adds up quickly! Why don't EMTs get some of this cash?

 

[LucidResq]

One of my professors delivered a stillborn several years ago. They combed over their bill and saw that they were charged for things like a vitamin K injection and erythromycin eye ointment.

Talk about upsetting.

 

[bstone]

One of my professors delivered a stillborn several years ago. They combed over their bill and saw that they were charged for things like a vitamin K injection and erythromycin eye ointment.

Talk about upsetting.

Oh my....that is horrible.

 

[MusicMedic]

i think there needs to be way more oversight on the handling of billing... the same thing goes on for billing Medi-Care/Medi-Cal... ive heard of companies randomly opening up charging Medi-cal for "Hospital Supplies" then completely dissapearing after they get paid...

 

[bstone]

They say that private corporaitons (like the insurance companies) have every motive to be profitable, so they will do things like hire people to ensure they aren't paying for frivilous things. I think this is a perfect example of how corporate waste is just as bad as government waste.

 

[mycrofft]

Very rare. Usually it is more subtle.

As an institution they have to amortize their cutting edge diagnostics equip, labs, and unpaid debts. Many hospitals get less than $.50/dollar, and many ER's mostly less than that.

If you think people hospitals are bad, try veterinarian offices. About $300 to euthanize a dog, and over $100 to get a prescription for a simple animal NSAID (people ones kill them).

 

[MrBrown]

Hospitals Overcharging?

Since when do hospitals charge?

 

[JPINFV]

Since when do hospitals charge?

Hospitals charge. The question is are they charging out of pocket, insurance, or tax dollars. Just because a health system is run on tax dollars doesn't mean they don't charge.

 

[MrBrown]

Hospitals charge. The question is are they charging out of pocket, insurance, or tax dollars. Just because a health system is run on tax dollars doesn't mean they don't charge.

... sarcasm killer

 

[JPINFV]

Tanstaafl