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- Path: sparky!uunet!charon.amdahl.com!pacbell.com!decwrl!ames!agate!biosci!charleen
- From: charleen@net.bio.net (Charleen Bunjiovianna)
- Newsgroups: misc.consumers
- Subject: Re: Doctor ripoff, or just reality?
- Message-ID: <Nov.13.10.54.15.1992.2592@net.bio.net>
- Date: 13 Nov 92 18:54:15 GMT
- References: <1992Nov10.214207.10802@bradley.bradley.edu> <1992Nov12.202654.25647@cpqhou.compaq.com> <1992Nov13.061347.4826@cbnewsc.cb.att.com>
- Distribution: na
- Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Biology
- Lines: 29
-
- In article <1992Nov13.061347.4826@cbnewsc.cb.att.com> kapa@cbnewsc.cb.att.com (k.a.perkins) writes:
- >
- >I also got a letter from my employer, who is self insured, by the
- >way, telling me that their costs for health care had gone up 14%
- >this past year, so mine were going to go up 150%. Yet I count
- >myself fortunate to even have insurance, since 40 million folks
- >in this country don't.
-
- Bummer.
-
- Know something? In this part of the country, at least, some
- unspecified number of physicians charge insured patients more than
- private-pay patients for the same services.
-
- So you've got your costly health insurance, and your insurance
- administrator is paying the doctor more than someone who walks up to
- the counter and plunks down cash.
-
- I used to work for a company that was self-insured. We noted the
- insurance patient/private-pay patient cost disparity, and I suggested
- that, to keep costs down, we all pay our bills in cash (to get any
- private-pay "discount") then turn in the receipts to our administrator
- for reimbursement. Most people thought that was just too much trouble
- to go to. I guess they'd rather pay higher premiums. Go figure.
-
- Charleen
-
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