example.com/path/to/article
000 points · username · 0 hours ago
example.com32 points · 15 comments · 23 days ago · curatedmcp
I built a crawler that finds each hospital's official file and pulls out 29 common services. Across 482 hospitals: a moderate ER visit is listed at a median $1,285 while insurers pay $288; a metabolic panel is listed at $207 while insurers pay $11.46.
To keep it honest: only per-service fee-schedule dollar rates count (no case rates or percentages, which cover a whole visit), each figure needs at least 3 insurers, and every value is checked against Medicare reference rates. Surgery is excluded because insurer surgery rates cover the whole operation while the list price is one line item. Each hospital page links its source file. Feedback on the methodology is very welcome.
blobdole
sightspinner
"broken arm at red cross hospital" or something
purplepatrick
There is zero value in showing them. All they do is demonstrate a dumb pricing game that could easily be ended if the GOP didn’t conflate “single-payer” with “single-provider” and scream socialism.
Moreover 80%+ of hospitals no longer charge on a fee-for-service basis but through DRG (diagnosis related groups) as part of a value based care model. So these itemized list prices are doubly moot.
bgolson
MiroslavPokorny
Calling hospitals in an area "competitors" almost made me vomit in my mouth... so maybe the problem is bigger than this.