More details on the paywalled NYTimes piece on asinine healthcare billing in the US

[CousinIT]

It's still paywalled at NYTIMES but Common Dreams published some of it:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/23/once-secret-prices-expose-irrational-and-cruel-nature-us-healthcare-system

Once Secret Prices Expose 'Irrational and Cruel' Nature of US Healthcare System

. . .

The database of hospital rates compiled by the New York Times and researchers at University of Maryland-Baltimore details how patients are charged drastically different prices for the same medical care depending on what insurance company they use—with some procedures costing less if a patient has no insurance at all.

As the Times reported, at University of Mississippi Medical Center a patient with a Cigna plan can expect to pay $1,463 for a colonoscopy, while someone with Aetna insurance would be charged more than $2,100. An uninsured patient would be billed for $782.

Patients receiving an M.R.I. at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida will be billed between $1,827 and $2,455 if they have a Cigna, Humana, or Blue Cross plan, and only $262 if they have Medicare.

The data flies in the face of claims made for years by proponents of the for-profit health insurance system—including lawmakers from both parties—that insurers help individuals and employers by negotiating favorable prices for medical care.

"The worrying thing is that the third party you're paying to negotiate on your behalf isn't doing as well as you would on your own," Zack Cooper, a health economist at Yale, told the Times.

Matt Bruenig of the People's Policy Project tweeted that the report highlights how "dysfunctional" the for-profit system is, with pricing schemes that "clearly have no relation to anything" other than boosting health insurance companies' profits—to the detriment of a growing number of Americans enrolled in high-deductible health plans that require them to pay high amounts out of pocket despite having coverage. . . .

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. I'd imagine these prices change again once the particular patient has reached their deductible

for the year, and the insurance company is having to come out of pocket.