[zecho]

In actuality, it would be: "Each blood test paid by insurance company $A costs $X, Each blood test paid by insurance company $B costs $Y." Etc.

I really think a big part of the problem in healthcare pricing is insurance company policies regarding networks and guaranteed volume. Your auto insurance doesn't demand you use a certain body shop, why should your health insurance?

Here's a practical example that recently came up for me. My wife is a nurse at a few clinics. At one clinic, she's got health insurance and that clinic provides IUDs via their hospital, which she wanted to get. At this clinic, the price billed to her insurance would be $4700.

At another clinic she works at, she could get the same IUD brand and procedure for $600.

When she asked her insurance about it, they said they would pay 100% of $4700 in-network but 60% of $600 out-of-network. Obviously, being selfish, she decided to let the company eat the $4100 they would otherwise save so that she would pay $0 instead of $240.

[tsotha]

Because that $4700 isn't the cost the insurance company is paying. The real reason you can't go without insurance in the US is they're negotiating steep discounts - where I live it's supposed to average 80%.

It may well be they paid less than $600 for a procedure that lists at $4100.

And of course the government numbers don't take this into account, so what they've published is pretty much worthless.

[zecho]

I doubt it. That $4700 is what was listed in the insurance packet, then again in the bill along with a few other minor expenses incurred during the procedure, and finally paid for by insurance in a later notice to us. The 100% is because of ACA requirements.

I don't disagree with you that insurance companies negotiate different discounts, though, which is what I was trying to get at in my post regarding pricing.

[sjg007]

The gov't lists medicare reimbursement which is basically the insurance price maximum. Some insurers get better than medicare pricing.

You know what is wild though? Federal employees aren't insured by medicare but instead the federal govt pays private insurers to insure them!

If the Feds went to single payer for its employees, things would change quickly.