When food safety legislation hinges on resistance to a tagged-on drug reimportation amendment, you know something’s not right. Senator Bryon Dorgan has made a last-ditch attempt to help his constituents before he retires, by legalizing less expensive prescription medication options. Unfortunately the political establishment and its cash cow lobbyists are dead set against it.
Just as I was ranting about the lack of transparency and high variability in healthcare pricing, Leslie Ramirez, MD, was blogging about the exact same thing over at KevinMD.com. This internist has actually done something about it, for patients lucky enough to live in Chicago.
Leslie’s List is a free community resource that allows patients to compare costs for prescriptions, tests, and clinics in the Chicago area. Unlike the 3 sites I profiled earlier, which provide early-stage, variable, and rather unreliable pricing for healthcare services, Leslie’s List provides real-world pricing at individual facilities.
Case in point: the Lumbar Spine MRI that the Healthcare Blue Book lists at a general $815? Well, Leslie’s List helpfully lists prices by facility, revealing the horrifying truth that the exact same MRI varies from $325 at one location to over $3800 at another. That’s right — a nearly 1200% difference based on whether you choose a free-standing imaging center or a hospital to peform the scan. Personally, I don’t feel that strongly about subsidizing my local hospital.
Leslie Ramirez is one physician who truly believes pricing transparency can improve patient care. Thanks, Leslie.
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Have you ever wondered how to price shop in the giant, complex web of the US healthcare market? Well, here’s your first hint: don’t ask the doctor’s office or the hospital in advance. They won’t give you a price, because that would be far too straightforward (not to mention fair.) But if you’re willing to put in the time, here are 3 sites that can help.
As states scramble to set up or modify their high-risk pools to meet the July 1 healthcare reform deadline, they may want to look to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Though a high-risk pool is an intrinsically flawed concept, a topic we’ve covered before, Minnesota has found a way to make its model successful. So how does this Midwestern state do it, and why might you want to move there for temporary coverage?
If you’re wondering how the new healthcare legislation affects the health insurance coverage available to you, California Healthcare Foundation may have the answer. CHCF has created some hypothetical scenarios for individuals in various life situations, and listed the options available now and in 2014.
Are you 22 and scraping together a living with part-time jobs? Maybe you’re a low-income 37 year old who’s not eligible for Medicaid and doesn’t know what to do. Or you’re a married 45 year old with children who can’t afford your employer’s coverage. Are you 50 or 60 years old with a pre-existing condition and thinking about starting your own business, or unable to afford high-risk pool premiums?
If any of those situations strike a chord, check out CHCF’s guide to coverage now and in the future. They’ve done the digging into the thousands of pages of legislation, so you don’t have to.
