Biggest Medical Rip Off?

[GZanta77]

I'm from a country with socialised medicine so everything medical seems scary and a rip-off in the US when you first get here, though I am getting used to it now. We can discuss the pros and cons of both systems, of which there are many for each, but mostly its just a case of getting used to a different way of doing things.

HOWEVER I've just found out that even with good insurance, it's going to cost me 2.5k to have a crown put on a tooth and I am in shock. Think how many days at Disney I could have for that Say what you like about Brits and their teeth (and people do, frequently) but a crown will set you back about $60 with an NHS dentist.

I don't know how long it is since you left the UK, or what part of the UK you are from, but you sure as heck aren't getting a crown from an NHS dentist for $60 anymore - not in England anyway. My last NHS crown several years ago cost me almost £200 ($260). According the the NHS 'price list' - a crown is currently £256 ($330).

Granted - still a bargain compared with US prices.

 

[tvguy]

$600 for a follow exam with my Doctor. 5 minutes with the nurse,10 minutes with the doctor. And they call it the AFFORDABLE Healthcare act! Before AHCA that visit was $100 co-pay.

 

[tvguy]

Thanks, I'm going to get a second opinion on this, for sure. Am hoping I just picked the 'wrong' dentist and somewhere else will be much cheaper.

Yeah, a crown shouldn't cost more than $1,000 without insurance......unless you need a root canal too. I have dental coverage through my work and through my wife's work.....they each pay half, so my out of pocket is zero.

 

[georgina]

There are an awful lot of unnecessary surgeries and procedures, some of which are driven by fear of malpractice lawsuits I think.

I went to a doctor recently for a cortisone shot for my trigger finger, and he pressured me into having carpal tunnel testing and immediately recommended surgery on both wrists! It was a surreal experience, my wrists barely bother me. At a minimum I would have expected him to recommend non-surgical options.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I remember when my sons had back to back non-life threatening ENT surgeries. My older son's surgery lasted 45 minutes (tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy). My younger son had tubes inserted in his ears and the procedure lasted all of 15 minutes. We were in and out of the outpatient offices (it was not done in the hospital) in 3 hours for both. My then 1 1/2 year old's anesthesia was $6,000 yet my older son's (3 1/2 at the time) was "only" $4,000. All in all, their non-life threatening procedures that lasted an hour totaled close to $20,000 for the two. Fortunately we had great insurance then and paid all of $300 total OOP. Don't want to see what a bill like that would be now.

Another thing that I found silly many years ago (right after DS7 was born) I had decided that I'd like an IUD instead of the pill like I had used previously since we weren't planning on having any more kids (but didn't want to do anything permanent). Insurance would not cover the IUD (about a $1,500 procedure)! So they were ok with A) covering the pill monthly for 5 years ($60x12x5=$3,600) or B) Chancing me getting pregnant and costing a billion dollars?! (Ok, ok. Not a billion but pregnancy and medical bills for an infant are astronomical!). It just didn't make sense!

 

[Pooh2]

$600 for a follow exam with my Doctor. 5 minutes with the nurse,10 minutes with the doctor. And they call it the AFFORDABLE Healthcare act! Before AHCA that visit was $100 co-pay.

Yes, it would seem that the Affordable Care Act is the biggest medical rip off.
We are paying a much higher monthly premium but now have a $5,000 deductible instead of our $50 copay..

 

[tvguy]

There are an awful lot of unnecessary surgeries and procedures, some of which are driven by fear of malpractice lawsuits I think..

Yeah, I have experienced that too trying to get my blood pressure down. Upped the medicine, no impact. Lost 50 pounds, blood pressure went UP! That triggered an MRI of my brain, an echo-cardiogram, and kidney function testing. Did some experimenting with medicines, got my blood pressure down 120/65, almost passed out. The conclusion, my body seems to think 135-140/70-ish is normal.

 

[georgina]

Yeah, I have experienced that too trying to get my blood pressure down. Upped the medicine, no impact. Lost 50 pounds, blood pressure went UP! That triggered an MRI of my brain, an echo-cardiogram, and kidney function testing. Did some experimenting with medicines, got my blood pressure down 120/65, almost passed out. The conclusion, my body seems to think 135-140/70-ish is normal.

It's hard to say though how much testing is necessary. After my first pituitary tumor was removed, I dutifully had my head MRI every year, until I skipped a few years, which was a mistake as it grew back bigger than the first time. So now I go every year for my MRI. There is just so much testing that it sometime feels overwhelming.

I went to midwives for all of my kids' births because they are less likely to use a lot of technology, but it was there if needed. More use of midwives would bring down the cost of deliveries and could improve outcomes.

 

[Texans_loyal]

My MS medication costs $7K EACH MONTH! Thieves!!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Anything to do with a hospital. I think they charge $30 for a dose of ibuprofen or aspirin. I had to pay $1,500 just to get 2 bags of fluids via IV for dehydration and I was there for 1 1/2hrs...that was after insurance.

That reminds me of what I had to deal with nearly 9 years ago. Now I think costs have def. changed since then (likely much higher nowadays) but I don't know when yours was.

I had food poisoning to the point where I went to the ER (it was after my fever was high enough to go there after trying to let it ride its course).

3 hr stay in the ER with 2 IV bags filled with potassium and 2 potassium pills plus blood work. Cost after insurance was over $700. That may not seem like a lot but I was in college during finals week first semester. This was just after young adults could be added back onto their parents plan (I was on my own plan for 1 year prior to the law being enacted) and my mom's company distributed $1,000 (for a family plan) into the HSA so long as you put in minimum of $200 throughout the year of your own money from your paycheck. That was a great thing except the company had until the end of January to distribute the money and the bill was due several days before the end of January. Luckily they distributed the money early enough but the bad news was the HSA was nearly wiped out by a 3hr stay in a hospital for very minor things that they gave me.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Another thing that annoys me is when you are at a hospital who is in a plan, yet they use say an anesthesiologist who is not covered by the plan, and you are the one who has to try and rectify the matter.

This happened to us when dh cut his finger almost off with mitresaw. In network facility, clearly an emergency, and out of network surgeon on call that Saturday. After a lot of back and forth they finally covered the surgeon, but only at their preapproved rate, and we had to pay the balance.

 

[amcnj]

This happened to us when dh cut his finger almost off with mitresaw. In network facility, clearly an emergency, and out of network surgeon on call that Saturday. After a lot of back and forth they finally covered the surgeon, but only at their preapproved rate, and we had to pay the balance.

You mean during an emergency medical situation you didn’t ask them to hold off on treatment so you could pre-screen every medical professional and procedure that was to be required?

 

[LadyD]

Even worse than people doctors is pet care! I spent $1500 while they tried to figure out skin lesions on my dog (which they never did). Finally said must be allergies!

I’ve worked in the veterinary field quite a bit. The vast majority of vet hospitals are not a rip-off. The veterinary industry does not have an insurance industry supporting it. You’re paying what it costs them to do the diagnostics and procedures, and have the supplies and staff as well as the facility. All of that is quite expensive.

Veterinarians pay more to go to veterinary school than human doctors, they have to have thorough knowledge on multiple species, and they don’t make anything close to human doctors so many veterinarians these days are in tremendous debt. Their staff is paid terribly too. No one is getting rich in that industry. They’re just trying to do their best to help your pets.

 

[kymom99]

I’ve worked in the veterinary field quite a bit. The vast majority of vet hospitals are not a rip-off. The veterinary industry does not have an insurance industry supporting it. You’re paying what it costs them to do the diagnostics and procedures, and have the supplies and staff as well as the facility. All of that is quite expensive.

Veterinarians pay more to go to veterinary school than human doctors, they have to have thorough knowledge on multiple species, and they don’t make anything close to human doctors so many veterinarians these days are in tremendous debt. Their staff is paid terribly too. No one is getting rich in that industry. They’re just trying to do their best to help your pets.

My vets are great!

 

[jormom1030]

The pediatrician cleaning wax out of my child's ear was called "surgery" and the insurance was billed a large amount.

 

[Artygal90]

This is peanuts compared to everyone else's stories, but for me I remember the insane sticker shock I got at CVS when I went to go refill my fluticasone (allergy nasal spray) prescription. My insurance (a very good "Cadillac" plan through work with a premium that is higher than my rent) hadn't changed, but the list of drugs they covered did. The pharmacist pulled out my prescription and said "That'll be $95, please." For one vial of generic Flonase! When it had cost me more like $5/vial just the other month. I was like "um, no thank you, why is it so expensive now?" The pharmacist explained that the formulary must have changed, probably because the same drug was now available over the counter as a generic. I ended up with the $25 vial and now try and stock up when I come across a coupon. But it was just this surreal moment, with the pharmacist holding one vial that cost $95, when the exact same medication and dosage was available for $70 less not 3 feet away from the register. I mean, can you imagine going to the grocery store and Sunbeam white bread costing $5 if you get it from a shelf, vs. $15 if you get the same product, in the same packaging, from the in-store bakery? Ridiculous.

 

[lambdabeta]

I’ve worked in the veterinary field quite a bit. The vast majority of vet hospitals are not a rip-off. The veterinary industry does not have an insurance industry supporting it. You’re paying what it costs them to do the diagnostics and procedures, and have the supplies and staff as well as the facility. All of that is quite expensive.

Veterinarians pay more to go to veterinary school than human doctors, they have to have thorough knowledge on multiple species, and they don’t make anything close to human doctors so many veterinarians these days are in tremendous debt. Their staff is paid terribly too. No one is getting rich in that industry. They’re just trying to do their best to help your pets.

Well I work in the medical field and the same can be said for them. All of these reports of high costs are not necessarily what they are getting paid by the insurance companies. There is very little difference between what you are saying about Vets and MD's. They have tremendous debt from medical school and have high malpractice insurance rates. Doctors don't make the money they used to. Also equipment and personnel to run the equipment cost money too. You would like to be paid for your expertise what you are worth wouldn't you? I don't have an answer for drug costs because I think they are too high also. I don't think that medical care is overly costly. You don't hear people complain about how much the plumber or electrician charges to fix something that might only take a few minutes especially if it is after hours or on a weekend.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Yes, I realize that, but it still seems silly that it is not the lesser of the co-pay or the actual cost, and that you even need to take notice of such a possibility.

Please note that with some health insurance policies in some states, if the pharmacy knows that you could pay less if you pay cash? The pharmacy can't legally tell you that, plus if your insurance info is already in the system, they cannot charge you the non-insurance price.

In those situations, it's best to go to another pharmacy and say you don't have insurance at all.

 

[teller80]

cpap supplies rank up there-over $1500 billed to our insurance company for a few small paper filters and a flimsy thin rubber mask.

I buy mine thru Amazon now, it's MUCH cheaper unless I've met my deductible for the year. I was very annoyed when I ordered supplies thru my cpap insurance supplier they included a whole lot more than I ordered, even though I specifically clicked the option to only send what I requested.

 

[LadyD]

Well I work in the medical field and the same can be said for them. All of these reports of high costs are not necessarily what they are getting paid by the insurance companies. There is very little difference between what you are saying about Vets and MD's. They have tremendous debt from medical school and have high malpractice insurance rates. Doctors don't make the money they used to. Also equipment and personnel to run the equipment cost money too. You would like to be paid for your expertise what you are worth wouldn't you? I don't have an answer for drug costs because I think they are too high also. I don't think that medical care is overly costly. You don't hear people complain about how much the plumber or electrician charges to fix something that might only take a few minutes especially if it is after hours or on a weekend.

I can guarantee you that human doctors have a better financial outlook than vets. Most vets are coming out of school with around 200k in student loan debt, and the median salary is only around 80k, and that is after practicing for years. Both are incredibly demanding fields, but people have very little understanding of why veterinary medicine costs as much as it does. When you go to your primary care doctor with an ear infection, you’re often out a co-pay and maybe a prescription because your insurance will pick up a large portion of the balance or at least have possibly negotiated rates for you to pay that are lower. You’re not often paying the billed cost entirely out of pocket outside of exceptional circumstances. If you take your dog to the vet for what the owner believes to be an ear infection, you’re paying everything at cost including the cost for the appointment, the ear cytology, any other diagnostics the doctor feels is appropriate, possibly an ear cleaning, and then any other medications they need to go home immediately at the time of the appointment. That was my point about why going to the vet seemingly costs so much because a lot of people look at how much a similar procedure costs them at their human doctor and don’t understand why the vet is so much more. I met plenty of people who just could not understand why their dog’s ACL equivalent survey cost more than their own ACL survey out of pocket. They couldn’t wrap their head around insurance picking up huge portions of the cost for them so that they were only paying a fraction of the actual costs.