What the fight between Anthem and anesthesiologists was really about.
  • Limonene@lemmy.worldEnglish
    211·
    1 year ago

    The TLDR of the article is:

    … was not actually about putting the interests of patients against those of rapacious corporations. … it would have reduced payments for some of the most overpaid physicians in America [Anesthesiologists]

    There is a reason Anesthesiologists make a lot of money, and it’s not because they are overbilling their time. Is this writer’s head completely up their ass, or something?

    Providers – not insurance companies – are the primary drivers of high health care costs

    Oh, nevermind, it actually seems they’re just a complete shill for Managed Care Deniers.

    Shame on this website for claiming to be journalism, but not marking this article as opinion, and not marking it as a shitty opinion.

    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      1 year ago

      Yes, providers drive up costs. Because they have to over bill to make up for what insurance denies.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
        5·
        1 year ago

        They have to overbill so that when insurance says “We’re only paying you 15% of your ‘retail’ charge,” they can still get paid.

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      34·
      1 year ago

      That sort of ignores his point about Americans making 2-3x what docs in other countries make though?

      US anesthesiologists are no better than any European nation’s anesthesiologists

      • jonneEnglish
        61·
        1 year ago

        They have more debt from their education and also need to carry liability insurance.

        • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Yup! Those are 2 other massive drivers of healthcare expenses for health systems.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    141·
    1 year ago

    If you think the headline is stupid, take a gander at the other shit this author has wrote.

    Except for this it’s all about how Dems need to move further right. Of course he’s taking the corporate side.

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      45·
      1 year ago

      I work in healthcare and the author is not entirely wrong. We do drive up costs.

      Look up MRIs per capita, for example. Tech is a huge driver of healthcare costs.

      • bizarroland@fedia.io
        42·
        1 year ago

        Pretty much any way you twist it, if in California I can get medical care for $8,000 (and that’s after my insurance pays a portion) or I can drive across the border into Tijuana and get the exact same quality medical services and only pay $2,600 out of pocket and have my care done by doctors who were trained and licensed in America and who run hospitals that are equivalent standard to American hospitals, then something must be going on.

        Even if an MRI machine costs 5 million USD, if it’s going to work for 20 years you can amortize that cost out over that 20 years and definitely make more than 5 million dollars off of using it without charging every single head that passes through its magnetic rings $6,000 a pop.

        If MRIs cost $1,000 in America do you know how many people would voluntarily go through an MRI just to get a quick check and make sure that there’s nothing hiding deep inside of their bodies waiting to lurch out and steal away their life?

        • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          32·
          1 year ago

          You can amortize all the equipment you want. When you have 10x the equipment as anyone else per capita, your expenses are going to be higher. It’s not like amortization doesn’t exist in those countries lol

          You make a great point though. Mexican docs get paid a lot less and they maintain a lot less equipment.