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by wybo 4862 days ago
I think this whole system of differentiated / > 150% profit margin billing - when people are at their weakest, a.k.a. exploitation-based healthcare - is utterly unethical.

I honestly don't see how anyone, and American public opinion in particular, can accept that such things are happening in their country.

In any other setting such billing practices would clearly be considered criminal / outrageous. Say if a surf-instructor at the end of the day charged you $80 for his sun lotion, or if lawyers you had not signed up with started offering you advice, and charged for it at a rate only known to you after the fact. And they would be swindling you when you would not be in dire need...

How can parents still be proud when their children become medical professionals in the US? Why do people still donate money to 'non-profit' hospitals?

Healthcare, the market, and decency don't mix. At least I'm happy to live in the UK where healthcare works (a lot better). The market is great, but one has to pick the right tool for each job, and the market not always is.
1 comments
anigbrowl 4861 days ago
Not only are the prices outrageous and the process confusing even if you do have insurance, but patients are burdened with an absurd amount of unfriendly administration, in which all expenses are coded and the people you call up on the phone are little better at understanding these codes [1]. Now, those codes have some utility to medical bureaucrats, but because the healthcare system in the US is so unresponsive to people's needs the billing may as well be in a foreign language.

I used to live in the UK, and I really, really miss being able to go to the doctor and only having to worry about the medical advice you got, instead of trying to decipher pages of obscurantist documentation for your visit.

1. An example of (part of) the new system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD-10_Procedure_Coding_System The full ICD includes specific codes for things like being bitten by a turtle, sustaining a fall in an opera house, or 3 different situtions involving collisions with a lamppost.

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