
A woman is treated at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine on August 16, 2017. (Photo: Carl D. Walsh/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
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A woman is treated at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine on August 16, 2017. (Photo: Carl D. Walsh/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
"Keep these prices in mind the next time you see a report...that tries to figure out whether a particular single payer plan's reimbursement rate would be unworkable."
--Matt Bruenig, People's Policy Project
Neither the hospitals she called nor her insurer would give her answers.She made her decision based on the little information she could get: a hospital, Layton, that said it would charge her $787 if she paid cash. The price for paying with insurance wouldn't be available for another week or two, she was told.
But even the cash price didn't turn out to be right: A few weeks after the visit, the hospital billed her an additional $2,260.
It turns out that the original estimate left out a drug her son would need.
"It was the most convoluted, useless process," Eichelberger, told the Times.
The report proves that "the U.S. truly has one of the worst healthcare systems in the world," tweeted Daniel Aldana Cohen, a sociology professor at Berkeley, who was one of many observers who took note of the research on social media.
\u201cEverything about our healthcare system is irrational and cruel\nhttps://t.co/J2IeB0Gb2X\u201d— The Debt Collective \ud83d\udfe5 (@The Debt Collective \ud83d\udfe5) 1629665660
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"Keep these prices in mind the next time you see a report...that tries to figure out whether a particular single payer plan's reimbursement rate would be unworkable."
--Matt Bruenig, People's Policy Project
Neither the hospitals she called nor her insurer would give her answers.She made her decision based on the little information she could get: a hospital, Layton, that said it would charge her $787 if she paid cash. The price for paying with insurance wouldn't be available for another week or two, she was told.
But even the cash price didn't turn out to be right: A few weeks after the visit, the hospital billed her an additional $2,260.
It turns out that the original estimate left out a drug her son would need.
"It was the most convoluted, useless process," Eichelberger, told the Times.
The report proves that "the U.S. truly has one of the worst healthcare systems in the world," tweeted Daniel Aldana Cohen, a sociology professor at Berkeley, who was one of many observers who took note of the research on social media.
\u201cEverything about our healthcare system is irrational and cruel\nhttps://t.co/J2IeB0Gb2X\u201d— The Debt Collective \ud83d\udfe5 (@The Debt Collective \ud83d\udfe5) 1629665660
"Keep these prices in mind the next time you see a report...that tries to figure out whether a particular single payer plan's reimbursement rate would be unworkable."
--Matt Bruenig, People's Policy Project
Neither the hospitals she called nor her insurer would give her answers.She made her decision based on the little information she could get: a hospital, Layton, that said it would charge her $787 if she paid cash. The price for paying with insurance wouldn't be available for another week or two, she was told.
But even the cash price didn't turn out to be right: A few weeks after the visit, the hospital billed her an additional $2,260.
It turns out that the original estimate left out a drug her son would need.
"It was the most convoluted, useless process," Eichelberger, told the Times.
The report proves that "the U.S. truly has one of the worst healthcare systems in the world," tweeted Daniel Aldana Cohen, a sociology professor at Berkeley, who was one of many observers who took note of the research on social media.
\u201cEverything about our healthcare system is irrational and cruel\nhttps://t.co/J2IeB0Gb2X\u201d— The Debt Collective \ud83d\udfe5 (@The Debt Collective \ud83d\udfe5) 1629665660