U.S. health care's widespread overbilling problem
I know this will attract a lot of people who have suggestions for healthcare.<p>Let me add my big one: price transparency.<p>I had a simple test the other day. I could not get a price. I could not get a price with my insurance, or without it. I called at least 9 times. I got 5 call backs from people who asked me to schedule the procedure but no price.<p>On the 10th call, I finally got someone to tell me what the out-of-pocket price would be without insurance. She told me a range! It was $96-$115. This was close to the range that google says was about average for the procedure.<p>So this was not a case of over-charging, or unfair pricing. I really did not know if the test was $10,000 or $100 till this call.<p>If they just made the pricing transparent, I think a lot of the problems would evaporate.<p>(Although I think the profit centers would suddenly become the emergency medicine section of the hospital.)<p>I know this article focuses on fraud, but the non-fraud part of the healthcare is just as broken, and probably costs more.