Americans: Please Take Two Minutes To Support Pricing Transparency in the Healthcare Industry

submitted by christine_grab from self.USPolitics

Lack of affordable healthcare is one of the biggest crises facing the nation today. 88% of Americans polled agreed that they want to see better transparency in health care pricing.

The Trump Administration has put a bill on the table to require price transparency from doctors, hospitals and drug manufacturers. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is seeking comments until Jan. 14th on the proposed new rules. Please take a minute to comment here:

https://www.patientrightsadvocate.org/tell-your-story

For more information on the subject, here is an interview with Katy Talento, the former lead health adviser to President Trump: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHWjEN7u1g4&app=desktop

I know many of you are anti-Trump, but please don’t let partisan politics stop you from doing something that will help every person in our country. While most of us are in disagreement over how to best fix our broken healthcare system, 88% of us agree that price transparency is a step in the right direction.

“Healthcare is the only industry where the sellers of care, insurers and hospitals, conspire together to cook up secret pricing contracts between each other that they hide from the buyers of care, patients, employers and taxpayers.” Katy Talento (from video linked above).

Please pass on the link to the comments so that the HHS is inundated with support for this measure. This is a rare opportunity to unite on a political issue — let’s use this as a bridge to unite our people instead of divide us!

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[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

You have to include all of us first. transparentcy is nothing but waste of time if your sick already. Surely Trump understands this. You should too. The cost of things is the middlemen taking their cut of our health. Trump should be doing something to address that. What this bill does is destroying opportunity by thinking health Care is something we shop for.. This does nothing to help it just codifies the cost we have to pay. If he really cared he would end the middleman first. This doesn't even try to do that. Medicare already has this. And have negotiated prices for all of it already it's working for millions. Thats where you start. Disclosing prices is enough to force people to worry about seeing a doctor in the first place. Trump knows everybody needs care they can afford. This does nothing for America. Sales on liver decease this week only, is no way to run health care. Next car accident let's shop for best cost while your unconscious in the back of the ambulance really isn't a plan at all. Because the work is all ready done by medicare for millions of seniors and has been for 30 years. That's the solution to the cost. A real starting point where cost is regulated. An aspirin cost a penny that's the cost there I fixed it for ya. Talking points won't fix it, he knows covering everybody will. What will this do for the 80+ million folks without insurance or who are under insured? Not a thing. Bad rules are not good governance. They devide us from each other an always do little to make it better for all of us. It won't drive down cost or fix the number sick with out insurance won't end Medicaid we all pay your state for now it doesn't address that costs are not cost at all just a road map to ruin for everyone. I have no interest in supporting stupid above reality that's what this pipe dream does. It is price fixing that is all.

[–]christine_grab[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

As I said in the post, everyone agrees we have a health care crises and we are all arguing about how to fix it. One of the few things that most Americans agree upon is price transparency. I think it is great that the White House is moving forward in an avenue that can actually garner enough public support to pass. The reality is most measures won't pass because it can't get enough people agreeing that its a good avenue to pursue. In my mind you have to start somewhere, and this is a good place to start.

I get you are one of the 12% that opposes price transparency, and I totally understand your logic and arguments. You are right, when you are passed out and taken to the nearest hospital, you don't get to choose. But even in that case, going to their website to see what the anticipated bill will be for the services rendered will help a lot versus getting a bill for $20,000 in the mail that is full of codes so you have no idea what you are actually being charged for. This is how the providers sneak in extra fees, by making the bills so complicated you can't figure them out.

Most of us utilizing health care services have some kind of scheduled care that isn't a surprise. When I was pregnant, I knew damn good and well that I needed to go to the doctor X times and that I needed to go to a hospital to deliver my baby. That was something that I absolutely would have shopped for had I had the option. I was horrified by all the surprise bills that popped up after he was born. The hospital was in network, but not all the doctors assigned to me were, so I was fighting for over a year to get the insurance to cover these surprise doctor bills that totaled thousands of dollars. It would have nice to have not been blind-sided by these charges.

I also developed a rare kidney disease shortly after the birth of my child. I had to get labs and go to the doctor every month for years. It would have been great to have had the option to shop.

Medicare has its fair share of problems, too. My dad has basic Medicare, and I spend hours upon hours clearing up billing "mistakes" made by assorted practitioners. I can't tell you how many co-pays have disappeared and how many times the co-pays turned out to be much, much higher than we had anticipated. I believe that they make these "mistakes" to pad their bottom lines, knowing that most of these old people are easy targets for overcharging. Also, my understanding from my friend who works in medical billing is that Medicare doesn't pay enough to really cover the practitioners cost, so practitioners make up that loss by overcharging the rest of us.

I'd love to see standardized pricing across the board, and those are other steps in the process that need to be addressed. But just disclosing what the pricing is at all is a good first step.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Sorry. I still believe half silly measures can't fix it, at least be honest with me. This does nothing for any of us but sets prices. Let me explain in our area we have three hospitable's two of them run by let's say corporation A the other is state run. Giving me prices won't do much for me or really anybody. It is just fluff and you know better fix the real problem health care isnt a right for anybody. Regulation are needed an all must be covered. The middle man insurance take 30% of our health care money. Be honest. Medicaid is layers of management and cost us double the rest of the world. This is weak cause politics! we all are growing tired of your lies Trump won't even try to fix it none of them will. Only one plan saves us 12 trillion dollars in ten years and covers all. This plan is a reach around to the same thing they give America Everytime nothing. This plan is nothing and deserves nothing from anybody, so no thanks we have enough stupid right now and this is stupid half assed do nothing an a fuck you to Americans your support is a waste of time and does nothing just be honest health care cost to much because everybody isn't covered. And insurance is a bad goal keeper. Kindly read up get involved it the better fight. Medicare for all. This isn't even good or right! Just politics and talking points.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Please be honest https://berniesanders.com/issues/medicare-for-all/. This is a real plan and trumps is a fuck you plan. Bernie even fixes your dad's begging for care. And who gets care. No co-pays and out of pocket expenses. Now that is a plan! 12 trillion in savings is what the study's say. Trump's plan is a joke he knows it now you do too. Even 76% the 88% of Americans that want transparency can really get it with out finding a bargain they can't find now. Hospitable have consolidated over the past 15 years and mostly by region. Tell the truth. I'm not shopping at Walmart. I'm careing for our sick and giving that as a right. No argument just not worth any of our time.

[–]christine_grab[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

You do realize that transparent pricing and medicare for all are not mutually exclusive concepts? That they can live together happily and harmoniously?

I agree that Medicare for all would be superior to the system we have now. IF Bernie wins, he'll start working on that legislation in 2021, right after he takes office. It'll be blockaded by the congress and the senate because most of the legislators are owned by Big Pharma and Big Insurance will not allow anything through that cuts into their overlord's profit margins. It'll take a few years to vote out the dirtbags and replace them with enough uncorrupted people that Medicare for all will have a fighting chance. By then, there will be so much public pressure that the rest of the dirt bags will have to acquiesce. So, realistically, medicare for all will happen in 2025 once the new group of legislators are sworn in -- and that is best case scenario.

I guess I don't understand why you are so hostile towards the concept of making a step forward TODAY. No, it's not a big giant comprehensive plan. But it is a step in the right direction RIGHT NOW, not someday down the road if the stars align. I am thrilled to take a step int he right direction, and I am hoping that if we can make this one step, maybe more steps will follow.

I can't seem to find the article right now, but I read a great article about how Ted Kennedy was pushing so hard for medicare for all back in the 1960s. The legislators were close to a compromise that didn't cover anywhere close to everyone, but got more people covered than just seniors. Everyone pushed him to take the deal, and then continue to push for more and more groups to be included until eventually everyone was covered. But Kennedy refused. And to this day, Medicare still only covers seniors. He had the chance to have gotten more people covered, and he didn't take it, so all those people who could have had coverage lost out.

I think you sound like Ted Kennedy did back then: "No, if I can't get it all, then I want nothing. Yes, I understand that millions of my fellow Americans are getting fucked over with opaque pricing and over-billing but god-damn it, they need to stay fucked over because this one step to help this one group doesn't do enough for every single American." I get it that this step doesn't help YOU very much, but it sure as hell would help me as someone with a rare disease that has to go to the doctor a lot. Yes, I have insurance, but it has a large deductible and large co-pays, so my insurance is essentially useless. I need to be aware of how much my care costs me since its mostly out of pocket! I am frustrated that you are so focused on the big picture that you can't be empathetic to the needs of the group that I am in... you could easily help me here and now, and you won't. :(

The reality of our country is that we tend to move in baby steps. We don't do big radical change very well -- and that is actually by the design of the founding fathers. They wanted something stable that didn't change quickly with people's whims. We'll see if Bernie 1. wins and 2. can make medicare for all happen. But even if he does make it happen, it will take time.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

why would we waste millions of dollars for nothing? Why would we create a reginal price list of every procedure? It's so much more than a baby step. And it will be used for nothing.. the cost is huge to implement it is money not being spent on health care? I think the right really could care less about taking care of americas sick. Take the same hundred million and use that money to care for our sick. You really are just insistent that it's a good idea when in reality it is a distraction to really doing anything to care for America's sick.. And simply smoke and mirrors to a problem that doesn't exist. You shou!d simply tell them in Washington to not consider this boondoggle of bad faith. I know if you build it and fund it. It does nothing to take care of one sick person in America the millions we spend to do nothing baby steps my ass. Not good for us and care for none of us. just trump looking for a bow, to do the least good possible ever for care of the sick. Nurses doctors are not being trained with this money and it has nothing to do with taking care of the sick. Shopping is not health Care in anyway!

[–]christine_grab[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

You are correct that this bill does nothing to care for the sick. What it does is to help Americans avoid crippling medical debt by stopping providers from blind-siding us with unexpected bills. And making it easier to access your own medical records so that can you more easily shop for a more competent/cheaper provider. This is what I meant when I said earlier that pricing transparency and medicare for all can live in harmony -- they are two entirely different subjects that co-exist together peacefully.

I am seriously offended that you think that that medical debt caused by opaque pricing "is a problem that doesn't exist." I guess you've never had a $28,000 C-section where the hospital was in-network but the doctors on staff that night weren't and the insurance company refused to pay the doctor bills because the doctor weren't in-network. Had I known up-front that a C-section was so expensive at this particular hospital and that all the doctors weren't in-network, I would have chosen a different hospital. This is why so many of us are in crippling medical debt. In Greece, a C-Section at a private hospital where everything is out of pocket costs $3,000.

I wish that you would watch the interview that I linked to in the post. It's about 30 minutes and a worthwhile use of your time. The government isn't making a regional price list. They are requiring that every doctor, hospital and drug company have a menu of prices for services, much like a restaurant has a menu. So that they disclose upfront that aspirin they are giving you is $58 each and you have the option of declining the aspirin if you feel like the pain isn't bad enough to justify $118. Now, they shove the aspirin in your mouth and then send you a bill for $118 and you are on the hook for it.

In addition to the potential side effects in drug ads, the ads would also have to disclose the drug price -- that way you know exactly how much your local pharmacy is marking up the drugs they sell you. Seriously, why is my dad's medicine $25 at Costco and $150 at CVS?

They also would require full disclosure and transparency of medical records so that we can take our medical records and shop for care, rather than being stuck with the one provider that you don't like and is overcharging you.

I honestly don't know what this will cost to implement, but I doubt it is anywhere close to $100 million since most of the things they implement are up to the providers to foot the bill for -- and seriously, how much can it cost to add a price to a drug ad or make a menu of services? Whatever the cost, it is on the table NOW, it helps people like me A LOT, and it is frustrating that you are so wrapped up in partisan politics that you can't see that my problems are real and worth addressing today. I can't wait until 2025 for things to improve -- I need something now, and while this may be small, it is something.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

What your looking for again is the end of being takin for a ride by prices we all ready agreed on. Medicare does this by setting prices all would be paid. I want you to fight for the fact that insurance is the evil that what you want to end. We also in the bill stop this price gouging by ending medical debt completely. What trump is don't is avoiding his responsibility by smoke and mirrors an do nothing. But spend our money to cover less. If you still find what I am saying is wrong then please think about what your pushing for a program that does nothing but make you feel like is does. Sheep do that when they are led to the killing floor. Again a program that makes you feel good is nothing but just a fuck you to the problem you want to fix because you think it is what 88% of us want. That Is a lie from the time you first asked for my support because what people want is health care 76% of us. Support the only solution that saves us trillions and cover everybody ends bill collectors provides better health or you can keep defending an supporting stupid.? Trump could care less about your being cared for. and to spend over a 100 million to just think about setting this up is an outrage to all we want to do. It works against our collective good, of making prices affordable everywhere. Medicare we already have all those numbers million of americans use it every day it cost less then insurance and provides better out comes for all of them getting it.. Why do this again? Let me say you can't be for stupid for only some of us. Health Care is a human right that is where you want to be. Or simply you are the one that does nothing for a very few, when that isn't even needed. I'm sick to death with this do nothing president this man is not for all of us, not really? Even Jesus had health care. Rome knew what the people needed. Now please do better than this waste of money all or nobody is the greatest thing America could ever do for good of all of us . It is what you want after all. Fairness. This isn't fairness it is hurtful for all of us. Something is not a solution. Transparency would be, forcing insurance to tell us what really they are paying and let us pay that amount. Get it? Making America healthy isn't telling us what they want to be payed. Shame on those that support blindly nutty programs that do nothing good with our treasures. At the expense of everyone. Just bad and now you know it.