[RyanMcGreal]

> You only get price gouged if you don't negotiate or shop around.

Nonsense. Health care isn't something you price-compare on Amazon and Best Buy before making a purchase. It's something you need right now when an unexpected medical emergency happens. That's why an insurance market exists in the first place.

[yummyfajitas]

A quick google search suggests that emergency care makes up less than 3% of medical spending in the US. So negotiation and price comparison is possible for about 97% of medical spending.

http://www3.acep.org/patients.aspx?id=25902

[tptacek]

You're excluding the cost of inpatient care, which is not the same as Daniel Markham's anti-apnea sleep mask.

[tptacek]

His story works because he's framing it as getting a broken finger set or getting meds for an ear infection, and ignoring the fact that what we need insured is prolonged illness and hospitalization. What his mom really is is "very lucky"; also, not afraid to throw "bankruptcy" onto the negotiating table.

[philwelch]

But catastrophic insurance will cover prolonged illness and hospitalization, and quite cheaply if you're able to shoulder $5-15,000 of the risk yourself. We're talking about how to get around the price-gouging that accompanies everyday lab work and routine care.

[tptacek]

The problem isn't cost. Of course you only want to get catastrophic coverage. But you're as likely to be declined for high-deductable coverage as for low-deductable coverage; at least, we were.

[philwelch]

Yes, being declined is the problem. I suspect it's more or less of a problem depending on what state you're in, though.