Healthcare Costs Shock Even Doctors
- The article is a personal account of the author’s experience with the high costs of healthcare. The author had a small growth on his scalp removed and was charged $10,840 for the procedure – a price he considers exorbitant for a relatively simple procedure that took only 20 minutes.
- The author argues that the current healthcare system encourages overcharging to compensate for underpayments by insurance companies. The author also points out the lack of awareness among physicians about the costs they are initiating when they schedule procedures. He suggests that this is a symptom of a system in which healthcare has become a huge corporate business where decisions about patient care are often disconnected from the financial implications.
- The author posits that insurance companies should pay fair amounts for services without hassle and bureaucracy, and that healthcare organizations should provide an intermediate level of outpatient surgical care where a full-blown surgical suite isn’t required. He warns that if all participants do not contribute toward a reasonable solution, then healthcare costs will continue to skyrocket beyond viability.
Surprising Healthcare Costs: Personal Account on Scalp Growth Removal
A small, persisting growth on a scalp led to a personal encounter with the high cost of medical procedures. Concerns about potential cancer risk drove the decision to have it removed, despite its small size of less than half an inch.
An appointment for the removal was made with a local healthcare organization. Anticipating a simple in-clinic procedure, the patient found that the surgeon, worried about potential excessive bleeding, decided to schedule the growth’s removal at an ambulatory surgery center.
The level of care at the surgery center rose to the standards of a major outpatient surgical procedure. This included full preoperative clearance evaluation, a fully-equipped operating room with a minimum of three nurses, and a postoperative observation period. All for a small scalp excision procedure done under local anesthesia.
While the quality of care and professionalism during the procedure were exceptional, the financial aspect was a different story.
The 10-minute surgical consultation cost $400, while the surgical procedure itself had a charge of $10,440. The patient ended up with a bill of $440, with insurance covering $10,000.
Totalling to $10,840, the cost for a simple skin excision vastly exceeded any expectations.
Such an eye-opening experience highlights the inherent problems in healthcare and insurance systems. The complexity of healthcare corporations often leads to a lack of transparency in cost, and the current billing practices can be considered outrageous.
The bill for this procedure should have been around $440, not $10,840. The existing framework encourages physicians, clinics, and hospitals to inflate charges to compensate for underpayments by insurance companies.
In this case, the insurance company paid nearly the full amount without question. This imbalance emerges from underpayment for preventive medicine and disease management, forcing clinics to overcharge for surgical procedures.
Healthcare organizations should offer intermediate outpatient surgical care for cases that don’t require a fully-equipped operating room. Similarly, insurance companies should pay fair amounts for services without unnecessary bureaucracy to reduce the temptation to over-provide and overcharge.
This experience serves as a small example of the continuous tug-of-war between healthcare providers and insurance companies. Without everyone contributing towards a reasonable solution, skyrocketing healthcare costs will persist.
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