re: Study: significant increase in patients who can't afford to pay full hospital bill

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As if anybody could actually pay $85,000 for a short, fairly common surgery, and as if it actually cost that much.

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Most of you are so ignorant about this topic it makes my head hurt. Congrats to the808bass for being the only informed person in the thread.

I worked for a healthcare company that staffed/managed ED's across the country for several years. My job was to literally analyze patient/third party insurance payments every day and predict future revenue per patient broken out by payer class by facility. I was responsible for over 50 separate facilities.

Hospitals know exactly what actual payment they will get based on demographics and insurance companies/CMS know exactly what they will pay. What price would you charge for a broken ankle surgery if the actual cost to the hospital was $8.5k but you knew you will only get 10% of what you charge?

Also, spoiler alert - most people don't pay their medical bills. Our company wrote of tens of millions in bad debt PER MONTH. Most facilities average anywhere from $125-$250 dollars per patient when you factor in what medicare/medicaid pay, write offs, self pay patients that you know will never pay a dime, and insurance/third party disputes. The system is terrible and the main problem is the two decisions makers in a hospital transaction (doctor and patient) are not the ones making decisions on third party reimbursement levels.