We Must Have Healthcare Price Transparency! #HealthcareReform

From the Independent Women’s Forum:

A few days after a breast biopsy at a Stanford Health Care facility, Perla Ni opened her bill: $143,396.66.

A breast biopsy takes about 45-minutes. Ms. Ni had a high deductible insurance policy, and she paid $7,750 out of pocket. Her insurer, able to negotiate a discount, paid $67,088. By the way, Ni’s insurer is raising its premiums.

Dr. Marty Makary, Professor of Surgery and Health Policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and an advocate of price transparency, points out over at Market Watch that what Ms. Ni paid out of her own pocket would have covered the entire cost of the same procedure at the respected Surgery Center of Oklahoma, which requires cash and posts a menu for its prices.

Source: Independent Women’s Forum

Insurance companies care less about keeping costs down when they can simply pass the costs on to you via premiums next year.

For more details, see Dr Markary’s article at MarketWatch.

Steve Parker, M.D.