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RevRagnarok t1_j117o69 wrote

Reply to comment by aerofour in U.S. hospitals are required to publish their prices for medical procedures now, so my friends and I collected around 2 million prices from 33 hospitals in Maryland and created a search engine where anyone can see how much they may be charged. Let me know what you think! (x-posted from r/Maryland) by Dr_Midnight

> The insurance companies basically never pay the listed fee but instead pay negotiated fees based on their precedent with the facility.

My insurance company does that all the time for my wife's bloodwork. Latest EOB LabCorp claimed it cost $384 and the insurance said "fuck you here's $17."

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MichMaybenot t1_j13u4x1 wrote

Which is kind of why they have to initially charge so much. If they say "this bloodwork costs $40" and the insurance contract says they're only going to pay 10% of the listed cost, the lab has to charge $400 to get the $40 they actually need.

Maybe some insurance contracts pay 30%. Maybe some pay 5%. The lab can only publish one price so they go with the one that gives them the best chance of getting what they need, based on their historic experience with how many patients use which insurance companies.

It would be FAR more helpful for this cost data to be the "cash price" for procedures.

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