Medical pricing is a mess in our country. There is no transparency, and each insurance company sets their own price for what they are willing to pay for each medical procedure. A simple blood test for cholesterol can range from $10 to $400 or more at the same lab depending upon which insurance company the patient is insured with. And the patient has no idea what he will be charged.
I have what I consider to be the best solution ever for lowering medical costs. It consists of two parts: (1) REQUIRE ALL PATIENTS, INSURED OR NOT, TO PAY AN ESTABLISHED MINIMAL PERCENTAGE (say 5%) OF ALL SERVICES RENDERED, and (2) REQUIRE THAT ALL MEDICAL PROVIDERS DISCLOSE THE COST OF EACH MEDICAL SERVICE TO THEIR PATIENTS BEFORE THE SERVICE IS RENDERED, UNLESS IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY.
However, if he knew that he would be responsible to pay an established percentage of the cost, he might choose not to allow procedures of questionable benefit to be done. Much of the expensive, unnecessary testing that goes on in the medical field would be eliminated.
Congress needs to take action and require that all healthcare providers work with insurance companies and disclose to the public the pricing of their basic medical services. This would give the patient the ability to shop around, drive down costs and gain better control of his or her healthcare.
Gene Huffaker, Meridian
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