[lit-ideas] Re: Medical pricing
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2006 16:44:04 -0800
David Ritchie wrote:
On Apr 1, 2006, at 9:45 AM, Judith Evans wrote:
One doctor I saw charged me almost
half the usual price when he found out his
consultation and the test weren't covered by
insurance.
Here you can't do that. By law you have to charge the same price to
everyone. Of course if you are a large insurance company you can
"negotiate" (read impose by fiat) a discount for those you insure. Thus
the only people who really pay full price are those who have no insurance.
I'm not sure what sort of situation David has in mind or what law
requires this. Doctors may choose to accept 'insurance only' payments,
knowing full well that one's insurance is unlikely to cover much of the
treatment or that it will cover none. What Judy's saying isn't entirely
clear but I know of no law (not by itself evidence of anything!) that
requires doctors to charge the same rate for all. Medicare and Medicaid
do cover a standard amount for a certain treatment (not more for x and
less for y) but is it true that a physician (therapist, etc.) must bill
these programs for the limits they pay?
Roberrt Paul
The Reed Institute
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