Medical Bills Often Come with Sticker Shock but Insurance Could be Reinvented to Provide Costs Upfront

The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll be billed.
The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll be billed.
chormail/Envato
Share
The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll be billed.
The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll be billed.
chormail/Envato
Medical Bills Often Come with Sticker Shock but Insurance Could be Reinvented to Provide Costs Upfront
Copy

You have scheduled an appointment with a health care provider, but no matter how hard you try, no one seems to be able to reliably tell you how much that visit will cost you. Will you have to pay US$20, $1,000 – or even more?

Patients are increasingly on the hook for health care costs through deductibles, co-pays and other fees. As a result, patients are demanding credible cost information before appointments to choose where they seek care and control their budget.

Yet, in spite of recent legislation and regulations, upfront information on patient out-of-pocket costs is still difficult to obtain from both health care providers and insurers.

Read the full article on The Conversation.

Public broadcasters call the order “textbook retaliation” and a First Amendment violation, challenging what they say is a politically motivated attempt to silence independent journalism
After choosing single motherhood through insemination, Marlena Davis shares how writing a letter to her unborn son—and embracing therapy, medication, and community—helped her build a life of resilience and connection
Spectrum Gaming Group recommends adding up to six online betting vendors and slashing tax rates to attract top companies like DraftKings and FanDuel—if the state can overcome legal, logistical, and contractual hurdles
Lawmakers caught off guard by $15M shortfall in final weeks of legislative session
Security and legal concerns are reasons to upgrade. But access to older data may be in peril