Hundreds of hospitals have lower-priced competitors nearby, but those differences have largely stayed hidden from patients.

When a baby is about to arrive, every minute counts. Yet when Jen Villa of Salinas, California, was in labor, she and her partner drove 45 minutes in the middle of the night, bypassing nearby hospitals to reach one they could afford.

For years, the price of hospital care has been hidden from patients, companies and taxpayers who get the bills — and that secrecy has made a hospital visit in some places prohibitively expensive. It has also fostered disparities, forcing people to pay far more depending on where they go.

…

Federal rules put in place in 2021 require hospitals to make their prices public so consumers can compare them and know ahead of time how much going to one will cost. While many hospitals have been slow to comply, the emerging picture has revealed imbalances that leave patients like Villa weighing saving money against being seen by a preferred doctor or at facilities closer to home.

A Bloomberg News analysis of data compiled by Rand Corp. found more than 350 hospitals in communities across the US with significantly lower-cost competitors within 5 miles. More than half the time, the less expensive facilities had quality ratings that were similar or superior to their pricier neighbors. If patients are willing to travel as far as Villa did for lower cost care, they’re likely to find it: Almost half of US hospitals are within 30 miles of a significantly less expensive competitor, according to Bloomberg’s analysis of the Rand data.

Such inconsistencies seem to defy the normal market forces that shape prices for most goods and services…

  • WeeSheep@lemmy.world
    17·
    10 months ago

    I’m pregnant and picked my husband’s insurance because it covers the only hospital within an hours drive where I can give birth. After it was too late for us to change insurance options, they informed everyone who signed up that they may not cover that hospital. We may not hear if they are covering the hospital until February. If they don’t cover the hospital we will need to pay all prior visits out of pocket, and it will be too late for me to find a provider within network because I’ll be too far along, but I’ll also need to go even further to find a hospital.

    So much freedom. The wait times are so short, I’ll need to start working part time just to accommodate the drives to want from my appointments. Not too worry, until I pay the deductible of 10k insurance may be willing to cover up to 10% of the necessary appointments. Private insurance costs more with insurance than out of pocket private providers in Canada.

      • WeeSheep@lemmy.world
        2·
        10 months ago

        You still have a lower chance of dying from lack of healthcare options or going bankrupt from the only option available. Still though, I’ve heard pretty bad stories of things that shouldn’t be pushed off having long wait times because that’s the system in Canada. There has to be a middle ground between death/bankruptcy and healthcare only for those who need it to live tomorrow.

        • calypsopub@lemmy.world
          3·
          10 months ago

          I knew a lady with heart palpitations who was told the first appointment (Alberta) would take six months. She went to Idaho and got seen right away by paying cash. They diagnosed her with a condition that needed surgery. Even with the diagnosis, it was going to be another six months to get the surgery in Alberta. So she went back to Idaho and got the surgery right away. It cost a few thousand dollars. So it’s just a two-toer system with extra steps at that point

          • WeeSheep@lemmy.world
            2·
            10 months ago

            Only a few thousand dollars??? I had a tumor taken out, with insurance, paid around $8k. I had a persistent sinus infection and couldn’t breath for most of my life, need surgery, with insurance, paid $4k and got diarrhea for months due to antibiotics that insurance determined I needed before surgery (surgeon didn’t see why it would bee helpful since my physiology was messed up, no air flow isn’t fixed by antibiotics). Each state is different, different parts of each state are different too… Still though, that sounds like it was a really good move for you and I’m glad you had that opportunity…

            • calypsopub@lemmy.world
              1·
              10 months ago

              It was an acquaintance, but yes. Thing is, if you don’t have insurance, your price is usually deeply discounted. A few weeks ago I needed a scan of a vein for a blood clot. My copay was $300 (and who knows how much the total paid by insurance would be), but they said I could just pay cash and not go through insurance and it was only $130. That’s part of the problem with our system.