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Not sure if this is a list that any hospital wants to be at the top of: When Medicare disclosed average charges from thousands of U.S. hospitals for 100 common procedures last week, only one hospital was near the top in every category: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Be it a cardiac stent, a . . . → Read More: Cedars-Sinai Tops Lists for Hospital Pricing It seems like the cost of a hip replacement in L.A. could be, well, almost anything: In the Los Angeles area, for instance, one hospital’s average price for knee and hip replacements in 2011 was as high as $223,373. That’s seven times as much as the lowest charge of $32,022 in the Southland. The . . . → Read More: How Much Do Hip Replacements Really Cost in Los Angeles? If you thought hospital prices have no rhyme or reason, it turns out you’re right: What do you think of hospital prices? Tell us about it in our discussion forum! A sliver of good news for those affected by the bombings: Patients injured in last week’s bombings near the finish line at the Boston Marathon are poised to get a little help from their health insurance companies and the hospitals that treated them. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim . . . → Read More: Health Insurers, Hospitals Will Drop Some Costs for Boston Bombing Victims Always ask what you’re paying for! When Keith Yaskin and his wife, Loren, rushed their 2-year-old son to the hospital with a dangerous infection in his neck, they weren’t thinking about how much his care would cost. After his three-day inpatient stay with nonstop intravenous antibiotics, they were hit with $8,900 in charges. But the . . . → Read More: Have You Ever Gotten a Medical Bill With No Explanation? Apparently not: Jaime Rosenthal, a senior at Washington University in St. Louis, called more than 100 hospitals in every state last summer, seeking prices for a hip replacement for a 62-year-old grandmother who was uninsured but had the means to pay herself. The quotes she received might surprise even hardened health care economists: only about . . . → Read More: Do Even Hospitals Know How Much They Charge for a New Hip? NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit looked into the cost estimates provided by California hospitals, and the news is pretty bleak for those of us trying to shop around for healthcare. Even hospitals are admitting that it’s almost impossible for patients to know what medical procedures will cost them: Using this data from the OSHPD . . . → Read More: Is There Any Real Way to Shop For Medical Care? We couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry when we read the David Lazarus’ column about suffering a cat bite which became infected, and the hospital bill which ensued: But the bill has finally arrived, and I’m a good deal less impressed with the money side of our medical system. Put simply, it’s nuts. . . . → Read More: Elvis the Cat: A $55,000 Hospital Bill for a Cat Bite? Most of us have problem with our health insurer when it denies a claim, but it turns out that sometimes the problem happens after the claim is paid: Just ask Lisa Dowden, who had gastric bypass surgery three years ago. In September, the 51-year-old lawyer got a bill from her insurer claiming she owed . . . → Read More: When Is Your Health Insurance Paying the Bill YOUR Problem? Has this happened to you? The robo-call from the physicians’ billing service had the intended effect: I panicked. It sounded like a collection agency. I almost paid what it asked. In fact, we didn’t owe a dime. By the time we got the call last week, followed by bills in the mail, our insurer, United . . . → Read More: Are You a Victim of the Balance Billing Nightmare? |
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