Bill Of The Month: Montana Man's Half-Million-Dollar Dialysis

[rcjordan]

NPR
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/22/743180947/first-came-kidney-failure-then-there-was-the-540-842-bill-for-dialysis

[iolaire]

Outrageous.

[Michael Murphy]

Not only on Dialysys but mugged by his provider, your money or your life.

[Charlie B53]

Pure Corporate GREED!

I'm half ashamed to admit I go to a Fresenius clinic.

[jambo101]

Isnt American healtcare fun..

[Alexysis]

Soo.....Medicare pays $235/session, and the vast majority of dialysis patients are on Medicare......and they make almost nothing off the Medicare patients, yet......they make $2 BILLION in profits every year? Wow, SOMETHING doesn't add up here....

[Michael Murphy]

The Medicare payment is 80% of around 370 dollars and that provides a small profit of around 10%.  The reason the big companies charge outrageous rates is that they will take a tax write off when the patients declare bankruptcy the tax savings is about 1/3 the amount charged.  Which works out to be about what private insurance pays.

[Simon Dog]

I call it the visiting arab price.

When I was on private insurance and D, my company paid between $3000 (Fresenius) and $5050(DaVita) for out of town dialysis at facilities they did not have a price negotiated contract with.

[Alexysis]

I call it the visiting arab price.

When I was on private insurance and D, my company paid between $3000 (Fresenius) and $5050(DaVita) for out of town dialysis at facilities they did not have a price negotiated contract with.

No, they "charged" them that. I guarantee that they didn't "pay" them that. It's all just a game of smoke-and-mirrors. Anything that appears in an insurance statement or a medical bill is about 95% fiction.

[Simon Dog]

I call it the visiting arab price.

When I was on private insurance and D, my company paid between $3000 (Fresenius) and $5050(DaVita) for out of town dialysis at facilities they did not have a price negotiated contract with.

No, they "charged" them that. I guarantee that they didn't "pay" them that. It's all just a game of smoke-and-mirrors. Anything that appears in an insurance statement or a medical bill is about 95% fiction.

You would be wrong.

My insurance company sent statement (for all my claims) showing billed and paid amounts.  Locally, there was a large spread.   Out of town, paid was equal to the billed amount.

Ambulance costs ($5900 for a 17 mile hospital to hospital transfer) were also paid at asking price.