The disparity in prices for healthcare services is astounding!

[4forMe]

I found out today that my insurance has denied my CT scan (a story for another thread) and spent the day calling various imaging centers for pricing. I explained each time I am self pay since insurance won't cover the procedure. Here are the different prices for a CT scan of the abdomen (no contrast):

$2400 (not including radiologist fee) - center located inside hospital
$1080 - outpatient imaging center associated with a hospital
$ 400 - outpatient imaging center associated with a hospital
$ 300 - freestanding imaging clinic

I am just astounded by the price difference. My dr. had referred me to the imaging center with the $1080 price. They used to have low prices until establishing themselves with a large hospital. I've been there before as well as the center that has the $400 price tag which is where I will be going (it's more expensive than the $300 center, but I have been there before and really like the staff/facility).

I realize most people do not call ahead to enquirer about the cost of a procedure and just wait for the claim from the insurance provider to see what was covered. I realize now even if my insurance was covering the procedure, I have a 7k deductible and therefore would still prefer to go the the imaging center with the $400 cost.

Has anyone else shopped around for health services like X-rays, MRIs, lab work, etc? This experience has been quite the eye opener.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Yeah---it's crazy, and says a lot about how out of whack the system is.

It's also fascinating to look at what the charges are from other countries versus here. My father in law paid less out of pocket for blood work when visiting Germany and Denmark when he had ot cover the entire charge, than his co pay was for the same thing in the US.

 

[lynxstch]

We have!
I agree with you, the difference in prices is almost always worth the time and effort for us. We don't have a lot of choices in places to go, but there are marked differences in prices for the 4 different places we can choose from. The Dr's almost always 'recommend' that we go to our local hospital for what they are sending us to have done, but we have found that the local imaging/routine test/lab work places are almost always a LOT less expensive! We routinely call around ahead of almost any procedure for the most economical places.

 

[Bilberry]

I haven't had a reason to shop around to compare prices for medical reasons. That is something I'm asked to do though. I belong to a Christian Health Sharing plan. The plan helps keeps costs down for members by asking us to price comparison shop around. From what I've seen it is surprising at how large the difference can be between hospitals for common procedures.

 

[Turn the Page]

It could also be that the places with the lower prices tags only charge self pay patients the amount insurance companies reimburse them for whereas the higher prices may reflect what they actually charge insurance companies.

For example. Our local hospital charges $8000 for a c section. That isn't the hospital stay afterwards, the doctors fee, nothing, just the procedure itself. I called my insurance company to ask how much they would reimburse for that and the max they pay for that procedure is $1600. For the same stinking procedure. Some facilities will charge self pay patients $8000 in this scenario while others will charge $1600. It just depends on their particular policy.

 

[Shanti]

Yes, America's health care system is completely messed up.

 

[mamacatnv]

I haven't had to have any spendy procedures but since my health plan is 100% deductible for all meds, I shop my meds and like what you found with your CT scan, I was astounded at the differences in costs on some meds.

 

[osopecoso]

Try going out of country. It will make you sick how much they pay vs us. I got LASIK eye surgery in Colombia. I went to the top physician there. I paid a total $1100 for everything. Here I was quoted $5500.

 

[lsyorke]

Always go to a private imaging center...they always have the best prices, and shop those too since the prices will vary. Never go to a hospital if at all possible. They are the most expensive

 

[kmb584]

It's insane, isn't it?

I work in a hematology and oncology office so we schedule a whole lot of imaging studies, especially for those with cancer. At times, the insurance company will spit back a denied request that leaves us shaking our heads. No, why wouldn't the man who completed his chemo/radiation need a PET to check tumor size? It's ridiculous really. We have a freestanding imaging center in the same complex and send a lot of testing to them because their prices are reasonable. Next month, they're joining the company that recently purchased two of our local hospitals, and we received a revised pricing list effective November 1st. The cost of self-pay imaging jumped hundreds, and in some cases thousands of dollars because of this!

Our healthcare system needs a kick in its backside. It's truly awful. A lot of our patients have bills in the $200,000 range and insurance covers just maybe half, sometimes not even that. We have a patient fund for those truly in need, but when that dips to $0 then we don't have the funds to give either. Obviously, we don't turn sick patients away, but sometimes it's a kick in the gut knowing their credit very well may be ruined because of life-saving medical treatment.

 

[keri125]

So in agreement that the healthcare system is horrible! I paid out of pocket for my MOHS surgery (to remove my basal cell carcinoma on my nose). I received an estimate prior stating at the most it would cost $2000, and only then if they had to make four passes to get it all. They had to make two passes so when I went to check out I was really curious to find out how much I would be getting back out of my $2000 deposit that I prepaid. Turns out the surgery just happened to come to $1972 WITH the 20% discount offered for paying up front. QUITE the coincedence that the dollar amount came within $30 of what I had prepaid, even thought they only had to do half the number of passes I was quoted for. I'm in the process of getting an itemized receipt for the services, but my surgery was September 12 and I still haven't received it yet. I find that a little funny considering everything was done on-site.