Posted on Jul 2, 2021
Hospitals Have Started Posting Their Prices Online. Here's What They Reveal
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/07/02/ [login to see] /hospitals-have-started-posting-their-prices-online-heres-what-they-reveal
This may surprise many of you to hear me say this, but there were some good things the Trump administration did. Here is one of those things, hospitals are now forced to post their rates (imagine an industry where for a long time there was no good way to easily shop around based on cost). What it is revealing is an industry that has not been subject to market forces, at all for the most part.
This goes a little way to holding the care industry to market forces, but does little to alleviate what will happen for emergency care where there is no opportunity to shop around based on cost. We've been taking an industry that for the most part is immune to market forces and then wonder why it doesn't work when we try and make them work within the free market.
This may surprise many of you to hear me say this, but there were some good things the Trump administration did. Here is one of those things, hospitals are now forced to post their rates (imagine an industry where for a long time there was no good way to easily shop around based on cost). What it is revealing is an industry that has not been subject to market forces, at all for the most part.
This goes a little way to holding the care industry to market forces, but does little to alleviate what will happen for emergency care where there is no opportunity to shop around based on cost. We've been taking an industry that for the most part is immune to market forces and then wonder why it doesn't work when we try and make them work within the free market.
Hospitals Have Started Posting Their Prices Online. Here's What They Reveal
Posted from npr.org
Donald Trump
Healthcare
Economics
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
This price transparency requirement is directly linked to a component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. "Obamacare"). So, the Trump administration was just further implementing/refining the Obamacare requirement whenever they created this rule. It wasn't a completely separate initiative. The PPACA forced hospitals to release their price lists (charge masters). This new rule forced hospitals to release the same information in a more useful manner.
I'm amazed that hospitals were able to keep their prices hidden for so long. Imagine going into a Burger King, or a Best Buy, or a restaurant, or any other business and having them tell you that they can't show you their prices until after the transactions are completed. Also, imagine having someone else (e.g. a doctor) dictate what you have to purchase. The health industry is crazy.
I'm amazed that hospitals were able to keep their prices hidden for so long. Imagine going into a Burger King, or a Best Buy, or a restaurant, or any other business and having them tell you that they can't show you their prices until after the transactions are completed. Also, imagine having someone else (e.g. a doctor) dictate what you have to purchase. The health industry is crazy.
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Cpl (Join to see)
Did you see the date the law was signed while he had a democrat controlled congress? He easily had 6 years to get it done. He didn't do it, Trump did with a democrat congress. You just can't give Trump any accolades, can you?
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LTC Kevin B.
Cpl (Join to see) -
Doesn't matter. It was still the GOP's health reform plan. The GOP "did build that".
Reference Trump, I can...but I don't want to. It would take too long for me to find anything he accomplished that is even worthwhile to mention.
Doesn't matter. It was still the GOP's health reform plan. The GOP "did build that".
Reference Trump, I can...but I don't want to. It would take too long for me to find anything he accomplished that is even worthwhile to mention.
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Cpl (Join to see)
"I can...but I don't want to," sounds like the grade school playground reaction. What i see from your responses is an emotional appeal. Thanks for pulling up the legalese and have a nice day!
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MAJ Byron Oyler
Healthcare becoming a business around the 80's has been one of the worst aspects of capitalism. I have been hospital administration and the numbers of people involved in healthcare that will never even set eyes on a patient is astounding. The person that does the Tricare Newsletter and then mails it comes to mind. The 70 series MOS in the Army is very important but why not cross train other medical specialities into this? When COVID hit I was pulled from my telehealth director position on Thursday and working in the ICU taking care of COVID patients on night shift that weekend. I was a field grade officer working nights over the weekend because that is what nurses do during a pandemic. The person that does the Tricare newsletter or 70s S-1 was not doing that. Dont get me wrong, we need healthcare administrators but this beast has grown out of hand that when you receive care from a nurse or doctor, you have to pay their salary plus everyone else not seeing you. Should a hospital CEO really get paid more than the neuro or heart surgeon gets paid?
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I think it's wrong that Hospital corporations are "For-Profit" entities. It's also wrong that a Medical Insurance company only pays a fraction of the bill and the Hospital is good with that. Who's putting the rest of that money in Their pocket. Why can't average Joe get that kind break on Hospital costs. Hospitals should be Non-Profit institutions.
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SPC Kevin Ford
SGT (Join to see) I completely agree. For profit organizations will always seek the profit maximizing price over time. What is the profit maximizing price for a service you have no choice but to buy? Why everything you own, of course.
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LTC Kevin B.
Only ~20% of all U.S. hospitals are for-profit, and ~60% already are not-for-profit (and the rest are governmental).
Being a NFP doesn't mean they don't make a profit. Some are very, very profitable. They just can't pay out the profits as dividends, and they are required to do community benefit work (charity care, education, research, health screenings, etc.) that is the financial equivalent of what their tax bill would be (to avoid having to pay taxes). Otherwise, many act in a similar way as the for-profits.
Being a NFP doesn't mean they don't make a profit. Some are very, very profitable. They just can't pay out the profits as dividends, and they are required to do community benefit work (charity care, education, research, health screenings, etc.) that is the financial equivalent of what their tax bill would be (to avoid having to pay taxes). Otherwise, many act in a similar way as the for-profits.
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