"basically, because they can" You got it.
Unfortunately, the Affordable Care Act did not actually address the cost of care. It addressed insurance. Here's an article addressing the Time article and the pricing issue: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/2013/02/affordable-care-act-fails-to-address.html A quote from it: He [Brill] argues the country is debating the wrong issue the nation discusses who should foot a medical bill rather than why the bills are so high. This is something Vivian Ho, a professor of economics at Rice University, said she would like to see addressed. "The Affordable Care Act will at least get more people insured, and because of that, they are less likely to be price gauged as they are now," Ho said. However, she said, "there's no opportunity for patients to price shop, and there's no incentive (to do so), which is something we don't have that I would like to see." I have heard the argument that normal customers are gauged in order to make up losses on other participants. This quote from the Time article does nothing to disprove it: "It turns out that Medicare would have paid Stamford $13.94 for each troponin test rather than the $199.50 Janice S. was charged." Basically, a 150 dollar difference. Nice. I posted it before so some may have already seen it. There is a free market hospital in Oklahoma City that does not take insurance. They are cash only and will server insurance companies if they pay up front. They have a price list. They are considerably cheaper than normal hospitals. It is called the Surgery Center of Oklahoma City. Here is a recent article on it: http://watchdog.org/64814/ok-surgery-centers-cash-only-approach-offers-transparency-efficiency-affordability/ A quote: The Reasontv video, shown at the Capitol briefing, highlighted some of the most dramatic price differentials, including for a complex bilateral sinus procedure. At the Surgery Center, the all-inclusive price is $5,885. At nearby Integris Hospital the price in 2010 was $33,505 but that did not include either the surgeons or the anesthesiologists fees. J - Ninety percent of politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation. - Henry Kissinger Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel. - John Qui ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:361824 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
