ProPublica: Why your health insurer doesn't care about your big bills

[MooseMom]

This article from ProPublica, the journalists who brought us the infamous investigations into the dialysis industry, have just published this story explaining why insurance companies don't care how much hospitals/health care providers charge for treatment.

It's a bit of a long read, but if you are American and are entrapped by our health insurance system, it is worth the time and the outrage. 

https://www.propublica.org/article/why-your-health-insurer-does-not-care-about-your-big-bills?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter

[iolaire]

Yes, there will be un uprising at some point. I’m sure my ceo with about 3000 employees and an aetna self ensured program would not like to hear he was paying $1500 per dialysis session as compared to the Medicare rate. 

[MooseMom]

I'm really surprised more employers aren't rebelling already.  It seems like it's such a burden for any business.  While I guess I can understand why people may balk at "government run healthcare", I don't understand why we are so willing to weigh down our businesses in this way.  I guess certain sectors of the economy are quite happy with the status quo. 

[Michael Murphy]

I retired from AT&T in 2004, I dropped my health insurance with them because I felt AT&T was using it as a profit center.  I switched to my wife’s policy and when my wife retired in  2016 her company approached her about switching to a Medicare ppo I chose the 350 dollar a month policy which has no deductible, no co pay, no donut hole (her company pays during the donut hole), I had over 250000 dollars operation in 2016, that was the rate the insurance company would have paid out if it was not billed at Medicare rates.  Her company realized that if they offered a great Medicare policy people would switch.  Even though my wife was 70 according to her benefit plan she could have kept her non Medicare policy.  Now we have a great policy and her company saves money by paying at Medicare rates.