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Most bankruptcies in America have nothing to do with stocks, mortgages, or credit cards.
They’re caused by the pursuit of what the UN considers a *basic human right*
Medical care is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America — it accounts for 2/3 of cases.
How did this come to be?
They’re caused by the pursuit of what the UN considers a *basic human right*
Medical care is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America — it accounts for 2/3 of cases.
How did this come to be?
Healthcare is the only industry in America where purchases are:
1) urgent and often made under duress
2) prices are not provided upfront
3) one person could pay 23x more than the next person for the same exact service and never know it
Welcome to The Price Gouging Game.
1) urgent and often made under duress
2) prices are not provided upfront
3) one person could pay 23x more than the next person for the same exact service and never know it
Welcome to The Price Gouging Game.
Imagine going to Chipotle with a friend and, after paying, realizing that your friend's burrito was $13 while yours was $276.
How could one person pay 23x the price someone else paid for the exact same thing?
How could one person pay 23x the price someone else paid for the exact same thing?
When you receive a hospital bill, the "true cost" of your care wasn't even a part of the formulas that spat out the final number.
Instead, healthcare costs are a product of clandestine financial incentives in which everyone wins but patients.
Instead, healthcare costs are a product of clandestine financial incentives in which everyone wins but patients.
When you go to a used car lot, the salespeople expect you to negotiate.
In order to skew the negotiation in their favor, car dealers raise the sticker prices of their cars in advance so that even if they're pressured to give you a discount, they still make a healthy profit.
In order to skew the negotiation in their favor, car dealers raise the sticker prices of their cars in advance so that even if they're pressured to give you a discount, they still make a healthy profit.
Similarly, when insurance companies strike deals with hospitals to consider them "in-network", they expect to negotiate large discounts for their members.
In anticipation of these tough negotiations, hospitals raise their prices.
In anticipation of these tough negotiations, hospitals raise their prices.
But rather than the 15% a used car lot might tack onto their sticker prices, hospitals raise their sticker prices by *orders of magnitude* in anticipation of negotiations with insurance companies.
A 1000% markup here wouldn't raise any eyebrows in the medical world.
A 1000% markup here wouldn't raise any eyebrows in the medical world.
With artificially inflated prices, everyone but the patient wins.
Insurance companies get more leverage on payers (employers or individuals) and thus can charge higher premiums.
Hospitals get to charge out-of-network patients exorbitant amounts for basic care.
Insurance companies get more leverage on payers (employers or individuals) and thus can charge higher premiums.
Hospitals get to charge out-of-network patients exorbitant amounts for basic care.
According to Dr. @MartyMakary, the solution to the Price Gouging Game is to realign market forces.
The first step in doing so is to get more price transparency.
If patients could easily compare the costs of procedures among hospitals, hospitals would start to compete on price.
The first step in doing so is to get more price transparency.
If patients could easily compare the costs of procedures among hospitals, hospitals would start to compete on price.
There are many efforts underway to achieve this goal -- some are regulatory, and some come from within the healthcare industry itself.
To get up to date on some of these efforts and learn how you can avoid paying huge markups, see the link below: https://cutt.ly/bksK6oK
To get up to date on some of these efforts and learn how you can avoid paying huge markups, see the link below: https://cutt.ly/bksK6oK
