Li'l William Barr delivers his classroom book reports. A comic from Tom the Dancing Bug.
How to fight an outrageous medical bill, explained.
Times You Totally Missed Awesome Foreshadowing. If it was obvious to you, it wasn't to everyone.
What It's Like Being an Extra in a Film or TV Show.
How Climate Change Is Fuelling the U.S. Border Crisis.
How a family YouTube channel unraveled a medical nightmare. (via Digg)
When did America’s heart turn cold on buffet chains? I'd say about ten years ago, when the prices doubled.
A blast from the past (2008): 8 Ways to Cross the English Channel (without a boat).
I'm not saying that all medical bills are accurate and fair any more than I would say all medical bills are *inaccurate* and *unfair*, but it appears that Vox doesn't have any such qualms.
ReplyDeleteTheir other premise seems to be that once the crisis has passed and you have been made well, then you can negotiate anything. Go ahead, try that the next time you put new tires on your car...
"Four new tires, mounted and balanced, and disposal of the worn-out ones. Your bill comes to $500."
"Fifteen dollars each to get rid of the old tires? That's too much! And $7.50 each for new valve stems? Just what was the matter with the old one? And what's this charge for 'shop supplies'? I'll give you $250 and not a penny more!"
Let me know how that works out for you.
The difference is that you can try to negotiate those terms before you get tires. You can choose to go to a different tire store to get a better price. An ambulance driver won't do that for you. And even if it weren't an emergency, getting prices ahead of time from a hospital is impossible.
ReplyDeleteI just had a battery replacement on my ICD but no bill yet, so the referral to the Medical Blue Book was interesting.
ReplyDeleteA private policy with Aetna handles my Medicare. A knee replacement was billed and Aetna(Medicare) paid exactly 30%. The hospital/doctor said OK.
As for Miss C's messes around the net, they are the most interesting gems you can find.