Pills and hospitals are next
Jim Thompson
By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
President Trump is doing so well for us economically that there are even some Democrats with positive comments.
The White House is starting to work on pharmaceuticals. I would like to see the speed here we have seen on tariffs and, further, I would like to see such pressure applied to hospitals, too.
I am a long-term heavy user of hospitals, and I have never been able to figure out the pricing of hospital services. One sees a monstrous bill, then it is cut by a significant amount when insurance is applied.
Was the original bill just a “I was joking” bill? I know if you don’t have insurance, you pay the full price, which seems exactly backward to me.
Then there is the pricing on special equipment such as MRIs or CT scans. Most hospitals just run this equipment just 8 to 12 hours per day. I would be happy to get these procedures done at 3 a.m. if there was a reduced price at that time.
The federally mandated paperwork these days have driven most sole practitioners out of business. Spoiler alert, I’ll be relating a story in the “On the Moraine” series soon about a sole practitioner who was amazing.
When I received an autologous stem cell transplant in 2017, each morning’s session of drawing my cells was $25,000. Why? They pulled my blood out through my port (which cost another $10,000), spun it in a centrifuge and then returned most of it to me.
The stem cells were frozen in plastic bags in liquid nitrogen, preserved until they were reintroduced to me after some other procedures. It was a miraculous experience, and I have had no trouble with the issues this was supposed to cure since then. But it took four days to draw enough stem cells, or a charge to my insurance company of $100,000. Am I worth $100,000? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Other procedures are equally pricy.
Obviously, today’s pricing is making the hospitals lots of money. We have three major hospital groups in greater Atlanta, and they are always under construction at one or more of their campuses.
I am not promoting euthanasia or eugenics, but the cost of medical care is out of hand.
Hopefully, President Trump can apply some of his negotiating skills here soon.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.
Medical Expense
You made some really good points. "The cost of medical care is out of hand". I won't try to attach your opinions to mine but we might agree on some of them. For Profit Big Hospital Groups seem to outdo each other in building new palatial facilities mostly in areas that serve the well insured. The "I was joking" bill is spot on. Like going to a department store that says you saved 80% today. There is no standard pricing or transparency for procedures in a given area and insurance coverage is all over the board on what your co pays will be depending on what unaffordable policy you opt for at work or privately. And that's how insurers and hospital companies want it to be. They are going to fight tooth and nail to keep it that way and convince the public that we need to protect their profits and salaries over lowering our costs. I better stop right there.