latraveler

I went into an ER for a simple x-ray a few years ago. I asked the lady at the front for a cost estimate 3 times, she kept saying I can't give you that and only that 'we wont turn away anyone based on their ability to pay'. Lakeview Regional in Covington, LA for anyone interested.

I went ahead and did the x-ray, got stuck with a $750 bill for something that took 15 minutes. It was the only bill in my life I refused to pay. Now that expense gets passed on to the next person unfortunately.

We really need a healthcare.gov for medical procedures and mandate that providers list and honor the price shown, but for now they just continue to guard their prices like Coke's secret formula.

Thanks for all your work Lee!

I know it can be difficult to foresee and price every procedure a patient might need, but they can make more of an effort. Contractors in every other industry manage to at least provide some form of a quote, time and $/hour estimate, why is healthcare the sole industry allowed to operate this way?

That was rhetorical btw ;) yeah its very frustrating.

Thanks Jed, I'll definitely do this in the future!

I mean I refused to pay the bill on principle so that expense was passed on to the patients after me who did pay their bills.

According to this http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf/2014/12/unpaid_medical_bills_common.html half of all debt (on credit reports) in the US is unpaid healthcare bills. It's a vicious cycle. The bills are too high so people don't pay them, which in turn makes them higher.