The wide array of healthcare costs witnessed all around the U.S. is evident if you ever decide to shop around for the price of a procedure. A colonoscopy might cost less than $1,000 at one facility and $4,000 at a neighboring facility. A hernia operation might cost you three times as much at one hospital than it would at another hospital 10 miles down the road. If you compare hospitals in different cities, you could be even more surprised at what you find.
It’s fairly common for a doctor to order a blood test for a patient, whether it be a CBC panel (complete blood cell count), a comprehensive metabolic panel, or other blood tests to ensure that certain levels are within normal range in your body. Unfortunately, this is an area in healthcare with widely varying prices. In a recent study published by BMJ Open, prices for various common blood tests in California hospitals were analyzed. The prices charged for a basic metabolic panel ranged from $35 to $7,303.
Hospitals are notorious for making up their own rules for what they want to charge for a procedure, and that’s why it’s so important for consumers to compare prices before having any medical procedure performed.
To compare prices, start by calling around. If you have health insurance, find at least three of the nearest hospitals where you could have your procedure or service performed. If you are uninsured, you have the freedom to receive quotes from any nearby hospital you would like. Call the billing department of each facility and tell them that you are wanting a price for not just the procedure, but for all associated costs as well. Make sure to get the employee’s name who you are talking to. You might be transferred to a supervisor or someone in an administrative role – that’s a good thing. Make sure to get his or her name as well.
Once you have your price estimates from each facility, analyze the numbers and services. Take care to notice that although one facility might have given you a lower price than another, they might not have included other services in the price they quoted. For instance, one facility might charge $8,000 for a C-section, but another facility might charge $12,000 for a C-section plus all associated costs. When you consider that the average cost of a hospital stay for someone aged 18 to 44 is $7,400, based on statistics from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the second quote might actually be a better deal. Additionally, all other associated costs could potentially add up to thousands more.
Numerous cost-comparison websites exist to give you a fair price range to aim for when negotiating costs for healthcare services and procedures. Healthcare Bluebook is a great resource to quickly and easily find fair prices for most healthcare services. Once the site determines a fair price for the service, you can access the fair price fee details, if applicable, which breaks down the price into hospital services, physician services, anesthesia, etc. According to this particular healthcare price comparison website, Healthcare Bluebook’s recommended prices are based on the amount that the provider accepts from health insurance companies. A link to Healthcare Bluebook can be found here: https://healthcarebluebook.com/page_Default.aspx
If you are unsure how to comparison shop for healthcare, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our medical billing advocates at Medical Billing Advocates of America at 855-203-7058.
