Yes, ass, *precisely* like France and the UK where people are dying to be seen by a specialist.
In the US, if you can get someone to push you thru the door of a hospital, you MUST be seen. You may not get Mayo Clinic service, but you'll be treated. It's the folks who play by the system and actually go thru insurance companies that end up getting screwed half the time.
But at least we don't have people CROSSING THE BORDER (from Canada, per se) for coverage they can't get in their own nation because of NATIONALIZED healthcare.
I don't trust the integrity and competence or the US Education system, the Energy Dept -- even the DMV. How am I going to trust gov't with my little girl's health?
@DorianGray: So in order for you to get healthcare you have to cheat your way around the system? Oh yeah that's miiiiiles better than a system that simply treats you. And tell me... how much does your medicine cost?
I didn't want to get into an argument but you're the one who insulted me so I'm obligated to reply.
The cost is based on what is scanned. A CT of the head would cost the same as a CT of the head performed on any other scanner. There is no medical "up-charge" associated with how new one's scanner is. Usually with scans of this nature, there is a "professional fee" charged by the interpreter or the exam, and a "technical fee" charged by the owner of the scanner, who also employs the technologists who acquire the images. In many situations, a radiologist might bill the professional fee, and a hospital the technical fee.
For most medical groups, reimbursement rates are set by the federal government. They assign a relative value unit or RVU value to an exam for Medicare. For example, let's say an RVU pays $78. The profession fee for a head CT might be set at 0.95 RVU this year. So, interpreting a head CT on a Medicare patient would reimburse 0.95 x $78 = $74.1
Private insurers each work their own deal out with the hospitals and physicians groups, through a periodic negotiation. For example, after negotiation an insurer might agree to pay 120% of Medicare rates, often specify which year's medicare rates as the rates change periodically to control costs. So, that private insurer would pay that group 1.2 x $74.1 for that head CT ... minus the deductible, which of course the patient pays. In any case, if the reimbursement rate from the federal government goes down - say 10%, which is the planned reimbursement drop planned for next year for all doctors - it tends to drop for private insurers as well.
Good groups will also provide free care to patients who cannot pay. For example, about 40% of the patients who are scanned while in our emergency department don't pay, but that does not affect their imaging or care. In my city and in others around the country, he have a health care sharing initiative that physicians sign up for to provide care free of charge to those who cannot afford it. Thus, even if uninsured, these patients are being cared for. Unofficially but in a very real way, the patients with insurance of some sort subsidize the care for the uninsured. My worry is that as medical imaging reimbursement rates continue to drop (14% last year due to deficit reduction act; 10% planned this year through medicare), it will be harder for physicians to continue offering free service to those who cannot pay.
How stupid and uninformed are you really? I live in Belgium and I pay 25€ a year for my health insurance and so does my dad. When he had heart surgery because of his cholesterol, you know how much he had to pay the hospital? NOTHING, he didn't have to pay one dime. Now how much does it cost to even see your general practitioner I'm wondering!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Flashpoint @ Nov 28th 2007 1:08PM
I've got just one question.
How much will this scan cost a person who either doesn't have health insurance - or doesn't have a medical insurer who is willing to pay for the scan?
Matthew Hilario @ Nov 28th 2007 1:20PM
probably gonna cost around the price of a plane ticket to canada.
kjb434 @ Nov 28th 2007 1:23PM
If you are implying that healthcare is right, get over it.
Healthcare is not a right! It's a commodity with a price tag. This fact is why national healthcare systems fall apart everywhere it is tried.
I cross my fingers that no a**holes try to force national healthcare here in the US.
SuperPrime @ Nov 28th 2007 1:29PM
Oh yeah national healthcare falls apart everywhere it's applied. Like the UK or France... real disaster there
diableri @ Nov 28th 2007 1:29PM
Less than the alternative with nearly zero chance of complications. Get over it.
DorianGray @ Nov 28th 2007 1:55PM
@SuperPrime
Yes, ass, *precisely* like France and the UK where people are dying to be seen by a specialist.
In the US, if you can get someone to push you thru the door of a hospital, you MUST be seen. You may not get Mayo Clinic service, but you'll be treated. It's the folks who play by the system and actually go thru insurance companies that end up getting screwed half the time.
But at least we don't have people CROSSING THE BORDER (from Canada, per se) for coverage they can't get in their own nation because of NATIONALIZED healthcare.
I don't trust the integrity and competence or the US Education system, the Energy Dept -- even the DMV. How am I going to trust gov't with my little girl's health?
Kyrra @ Nov 28th 2007 2:28PM
I recently had a head CT scan on, what I'm guessing, a "cheaper" machine than this. They billed my insurance company around $900 for the scan.
SuperPrime @ Nov 28th 2007 2:58PM
@DorianGray: So in order for you to get healthcare you have to cheat your way around the system? Oh yeah that's miiiiiles better than a system that simply treats you. And tell me... how much does your medicine cost?
I didn't want to get into an argument but you're the one who insulted me so I'm obligated to reply.
Walt @ Nov 29th 2007 9:17PM
The cost is based on what is scanned. A CT of the head would cost the same as a CT of the head performed on any other scanner. There is no medical "up-charge" associated with how new one's scanner is. Usually with scans of this nature, there is a "professional fee" charged by the interpreter or the exam, and a "technical fee" charged by the owner of the scanner, who also employs the technologists who acquire the images. In many situations, a radiologist might bill the professional fee, and a hospital the technical fee.
For most medical groups, reimbursement rates are set by the federal government. They assign a relative value unit or RVU value to an exam for Medicare. For example, let's say an RVU pays $78. The profession fee for a head CT might be set at 0.95 RVU this year. So, interpreting a head CT on a Medicare patient would reimburse 0.95 x $78 = $74.1
Private insurers each work their own deal out with the hospitals and physicians groups, through a periodic negotiation. For example, after negotiation an insurer might agree to pay 120% of Medicare rates, often specify which year's medicare rates as the rates change periodically to control costs. So, that private insurer would pay that group 1.2 x $74.1 for that head CT ... minus the deductible, which of course the patient pays. In any case, if the reimbursement rate from the federal government goes down - say 10%, which is the planned reimbursement drop planned for next year for all doctors - it tends to drop for private insurers as well.
Good groups will also provide free care to patients who cannot pay. For example, about 40% of the patients who are scanned while in our emergency department don't pay, but that does not affect their imaging or care. In my city and in others around the country, he have a health care sharing initiative that physicians sign up for to provide care free of charge to those who cannot afford it. Thus, even if uninsured, these patients are being cared for. Unofficially but in a very real way, the patients with insurance of some sort subsidize the care for the uninsured. My worry is that as medical imaging reimbursement rates continue to drop (14% last year due to deficit reduction act; 10% planned this year through medicare), it will be harder for physicians to continue offering free service to those who cannot pay.
Erfan @ Jan 23rd 2008 10:37AM
@DorianGray
How stupid and uninformed are you really? I live in Belgium and I pay 25€ a year for my health insurance and so does my dad. When he had heart surgery because of his cholesterol, you know how much he had to pay the hospital? NOTHING, he didn't have to pay one dime. Now how much does it cost to even see your general practitioner I'm wondering!