Comments on: The uninsured patient experiment

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:58:00 +0000

Anon 10:50…maybe you should represent the millions of unisured americans that are not able to get the prices you claim to be able to attain. You say you do this for a living? Hospitals for the most part will not bargain with an individual, because it does not matter if they lose the business.

If you are so confident that you can get that rate you should try calling those places to see how far a “professional” can get. A patient also shouldn’t need to jump through hoops to find out what the best price is. The whole point of the article is that they are not treated the same as the insured or medicare patients in most cases. It encourages consumers to find out the policy for uninsured patients at their local hospital. Policies should be up front and clear. All the hospitals should work the way MetroWest Medical Center does, but they don’t.

This is a relatively inexpensive procedure. What happens when a type of surgery is needed that is not something that most people would be able to pay cash for? How would a “professional” handle that?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:48:00 +0000

I find this subject very interesting. I have experienced this very issue and I must say it is not easy to get to the bottom of any price with a hospital. Unlike you I am not experienced in negotiating with hospitals. I just learned what CPT codes were! Then I tried to find out more information on these codes and found that you must buy a book for about $250 that has all of this information. I am uninsured and trying to raise 3 kids on $42,000 year. I know I need health insurance but I can’t afford it. When my son broke his arm it cost us over $2,800.
I tried to get the price reduced, however there was no negotiation. I had to pay the full amount over 9 months. Any advice would be great. If you know someway of negotiating with hospitals please share it with me. I am certain that I will be in this position again. Please someone help the uninsured we need healthcare and we fall through the cracks because we can’t afford the monthly premiums and we don’t qualify for Federal assistance. It really is a very bad position to be in. Do you have a company that can negotiate with hospitals for people like me? If you do what is the cost of such service? This is the first place that I have seen people talk about this stuff and I can only learn from it. Thanks for all the comments!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 15:50:00 +0000

Well, poster anon. 12:10, it really isn’t so clear whether the “researchers” in this study actually asked for best price on cash terms. Don’t believe it? Then read the article again. The way to ask is to say, “will you allow me to purchase this service for cash in advance at the same price you accept from Medicare on a claims basis. If you won’t, I will go to your competitor and ask for the same rate.” If denied, did they request to speak with a supervisor with the authority to negotiate on behalf of the organization? It is doubtful they pressed the request that far because they were doing the study to get quoted rates but they really weren’t planning on buying at the end of the study.

That is how you get the best rate. How do I know that? Because I do this for a living, and cash in advance–not time payment or credit cards, mind you–gets at least the best rate. Sometimes you have to speak to someone at a higher level than a telephone answering clerk to get to this point, but a manager with any sense will appreciate the advantage of competitive quotes for advance payment in cash in advance.
That is just good business. And no, that doesn’t have to be the advertised rate or the rate first quoted.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:54:00 +0000

If I think you’ll be reading, I’ll make a point of it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 17:10:00 +0000

How many people do you know that don’t have insurance and can pay for a procdure in full up front? Who wouldn’t ask for the best rate? If you read the terms in the chart, it looks like every angle was tried to get the cheapest price. Hospital procedure shopping has nothing at all to do with a household move. Hospitals for the most part won’t bargain with an individual, because they don’t care and don’t need your business. Do you make a habit of writing worthless and pointless comments?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:14:00 +0000

Did the caller say that they wanted to pay cash in advance for the procedure and that they wanted a quote for the best rate? Did he say he was calling for comparison before committing to a procedure? Did he ask for a “not to exceed” price? Those are the ways anyone doing serious comparison shopping for anything else would proceed (e.g., for a household move), and if they didn’t do something similar here, then this article is worthless and pointless.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:44:00 +0000

A friend of mine is a cardio doc in Beverly Hills. She told me that they will give discounts for cash. I’d never heard of that before, and I’m sure its pretty rare — certainly, around where I live. So, that you found ANY hospital willing to discuss a discount is pretty amazing to me.