Hacker News Reader

Comment by jtbayly | Hacker News Reader

One hospital that I use immediately takes 48% off the bill if you are uninsured without even being requested. As indicated elsewhere in this thread, this is not generally the non-insured price.

I'm afraid it is mostly irrelevant, but it is definitely the first step in the right direction. As somebody else said, it's more important to find out what real people ended up paying for a procedure after it was all said and done.

View on HN

> As somebody else said, it's more important to find out what real people ended up paying for a procedure after it was all said and done.

Is there a bill-sharing website to cure this information from people voluntarily? Maybe someone on HN would want to start one up? Or would people be too reluctant to share details of procedures?

Several news organizations are collecting bills (and doing some great journalism with what they've collected thus far).

NPR / Kaiser: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/16/5855495...

Vox: https://erbills.vox.com/

This has been my experience as well. The one time I had to go to the hospital while uninsured, while in-between jobs, they immediately tried to negotiate a settlement with me.

This has made me wonder what the point of these high prices are if no one ever pays them. My guess has always been that it has something to do with tax write-offs for the services that they never recoup.

Legal reasons. They cannot collect more than advertised retail prices but may collect less.

Fair enough, so still maybe not actual price without insurance. In that case at least. Makes me wonder if all facilities do this or something similar? Maybe that facility is particularly generous, or in the financial position to do that without the patient having to negotiate themselves. Maybe this could be an interesting app to make where people could report what that paid in the end :)

No, it's not normal. But being able to get a discount if you are uninsured is normal.

I've wondered whether the facility is particularly generous or whether it just starts with insanely high list prices. Now I guess I can find out. :)

But I still won't know what the final bill would be for the same procedure at a different hospital.

I want to see that app.

I really wish routine procedures had fixed prices so you know exactly what you're in for. Obviously there should be some limits, but you should know what you're in for with a low chance of surprises.

If prices were fixed, you could shop around if your procedure wasn't urgent. This ability to shop around means that prices should stay competitive, which will benefit people who don't have that luxury.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com