Feb 22, 2013 6:39pm
When Emilia Gilbert fell and went to the emergency room, she was diagnosed with a simple broken nose and released. But a few weeks later, she got the bill and was floored again.
?I knew I would have to pay something, but I didn?t think it was going to be $9,000,? Gilbert said.
Gilbert?s $9,418?bill included a $6,538?charge for three CT scans that the government says should actually cost the hospital only about $800 for all three under Medicare rates.
A Time magazine study found non-profit hospitals routinely bill many patients many times more than what a procedure costs the hospital. In one case, a hospital charged a 10,000 percent markup for a single over-the-counter pain pill.
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Time contributor Steven Brill?s seven-month investigation unveiled the ?Chargemaster,? an internal list of what hospitals charge?patients.
?It?s a price list that is completely happenstance,? he said. ?Nobody can explain it.?
For example, one hospital charged a patient $157 for a blood test that it bills Medicare just $11 for. Another patient was charged $7,997 for a stress test that Medicare pays about $554 for.
?Everybody?s making exorbitant profits,? Brill said.
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The American Hospital Association said a bill reflects not just the patient?s treatment but also ?what it takes to provide the care ? the nurse at the bedside and all the staff who keep the hospital running 24 hours a day.?
Brill said what most people don?t know is that they can usually negotiate their bills down so they don?t pay the price Emilia Gilbert paid.
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