“The Bitter Pill” starts off with an acrimonious tale of how a man that was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma ended up borrowing from his in-law to pay for his exorbitant cancer treatments. After I picked my jaw from my desk, I started pondering what could the cancer treatment breakdown be that warrants the price to be so high? I, of course, am aware of how corrupt the healthcare system is in the US, but, to what extent, not so much. The medical jargon used in the hospital bill, along with the codes and symbols is indicative of how confusing the healthcare system is to their patients, and sometimes, unfortunately, their litigants. The seven or so months it took for Brill to conduct his research using bills from hospitals, doctors, drug
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Gilbert, a school bus driver, tripped and fell on her face. Gilbert sought treatment at Bridgeport Hospital. Aside from the six hours plus wait, Gilbert went through a battery of testing, but only saw the doctor for fifteen minutes. Her laundry list of tests included three CT scans—head, chest, and face. Her bill for her treatment came down to $9,418. The astonishing part of this story is the cost of the CT scan. I erroneously thought that a CT scan averaged ten thousand dollars, I obviously am not familiar with them. Regardless, billing her $6,538 for the CT scan is troubling, as I can only imagine how high the price is if there is more body parts to scan. Personally, the most unnecessary charge was the $261 charge for the doctor to read the scans. It should already be the job of the doctor to explain the patient’s situation in layman’s terms. Gilbert’s (relatively) useless insurance only covered $2,500, her income of $1,800 per month was too high to qualify for Medicaid, and when she sought financial aid, she was rejected. After the hospital sued her, the judge put her on a payment plan of twenty dollars a week for six years, only dropping the five hundred dollars that stemmed from medical …show more content…
The patient, Steven H., had a routine procedure done for his back problems. The Medtronic stimulator that was to be surgically inserted into his back cost $49,237. This does not factor in the $37,000 for supplies, labor, and other miscellaneous charges. The reason behind the extortionate-like pricing of medical devices lies in the fact that some physicians are partial to certain manufacturers. Most medical device manufacturers rope in physicians with incentives such as business, economic, and research opportunities. Physicians are even hopping on the medical device bandwagon as it is a profitable business venture. The reason that salaries contribute to high medical bills is because non-physicians supervisors are receiving six, seven figure salaries at nonprofit hospitals. These nonprofit hospitals use their funds to expand the building, provide more services, buy out other hospitals, and reward the higher-ups with a
Gilbert, a school bus driver, tripped and fell on her face. Gilbert sought treatment at Bridgeport Hospital. Aside from the six hours plus wait, Gilbert went through a battery of testing, but only saw the doctor for fifteen minutes. Her laundry list of tests included three CT scans—head, chest, and face. Her bill for her treatment came down to $9,418. The astonishing part of this story is the cost of the CT scan. I erroneously thought that a CT scan averaged ten thousand dollars, I obviously am not familiar with them. Regardless, billing her $6,538 for the CT scan is troubling, as I can only imagine how high the price is if there is more body parts to scan. Personally, the most unnecessary charge was the $261 charge for the doctor to read the scans. It should already be the job of the doctor to explain the patient’s situation in layman’s terms. Gilbert’s (relatively) useless insurance only covered $2,500, her income of $1,800 per month was too high to qualify for Medicaid, and when she sought financial aid, she was rejected. After the hospital sued her, the judge put her on a payment plan of twenty dollars a week for six years, only dropping the five hundred dollars that stemmed from medical …show more content…
The patient, Steven H., had a routine procedure done for his back problems. The Medtronic stimulator that was to be surgically inserted into his back cost $49,237. This does not factor in the $37,000 for supplies, labor, and other miscellaneous charges. The reason behind the extortionate-like pricing of medical devices lies in the fact that some physicians are partial to certain manufacturers. Most medical device manufacturers rope in physicians with incentives such as business, economic, and research opportunities. Physicians are even hopping on the medical device bandwagon as it is a profitable business venture. The reason that salaries contribute to high medical bills is because non-physicians supervisors are receiving six, seven figure salaries at nonprofit hospitals. These nonprofit hospitals use their funds to expand the building, provide more services, buy out other hospitals, and reward the higher-ups with a