Doctors often do not know the cost of the tests they order
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Check on the article below relating to the elusive costs of medical care:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/ct-x-0829-doctor-payment-20120829,0,3111190.story?page=1
We have experienced this first-hand.
When we go to a doctor or to a hospital, we have no idea what it is going to cost. We can ask ahead of time, but we have never once been given an answer. Because nobody knows! We are simply expected to pay the bill, whatever it adds up to, when it arrives.
Or, more accurately, the bills (plural), as every procedure or visit seems to have multiple parts to it. The doctor. The facility. The machine. The supplies used. The person who reads the test. The person who typed up the test results. The dye used in the test.
It goes on and on. People should not be expected to sign a blank check when they see a doctor and act on his or her recommendations.
Dave Ballard
1:05 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
This is Marketplace 101:
If they don't know what it costs, or they can't find out beforehand (and that's a deal-breaker for you), then turn down the tests and/or get a different doctor.
Doctor: "But Sir/Ma'am, these test could show whether or not you're at deadly risk of [whatever]!"
You: "Or they might not, and I'm not made of money."
Many of the tests they order are to avoid future frivolous lawsuits, and to maximize the payout from insurance companies, and thus not really necessary anyway.
Rebecca McCarthy
2:01 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
It's called defensive medicine!
Dave Ballard
2:48 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
Exactly. Who wants to sit in a courtroom and say "Well, I COULD have ordered the test, but I didn't," even if medically there was no real reason to do so?
Dave Ballard
2:55 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
And I'm not trying to say ALL or even MOST tests are bogus, not even close. I'm just saying people need to take more control of their own lives, health and pocketbooks. If the doctor or clinic isn't being responsive to your concerns, that's not right, and this is something you can do to help change that.