Monterey, CA Some Hospitals Significantly Overcharging The Poor

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California Anyone who has ever been in a hospital knows that the pricing is absolutely outrageous.  If you are uninsured or have insurance that doesn't pay the whole bill, a hospital stay can be financially devastating.  President Barack Obama's health care reform (the Affordable Care Act) is working to change that.  I was also happy to see that new rules released on Wednesday by the federal government are going to require hospitals to disclose exactly how much everything costs prior to the patient being admitted.  This comes on the heels of a report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services which found enormous price differentials on 100 common medical procedures amongst different hospitals.  The report found that, in some instances, one hospital located near another one would charge double or more for the exact same procedure.  The government believes that forcing pricing disclosure will drive down costs, and I agree.  Many employers limit which hospitals employees can go, choosing the one with the highest quality and the lowest cost.  There's no reason one procedure should cost double what another nearby hospital charges, regardless of whether insurance is paying for it.  It's the uninsured who get priced gouged.  The American Hospital Association released a statement that the report doesn't take into account the $41 billion in financial aid that hospitals gave to the uninsured and the underinsured in 2011.  But not everyone gets this assistance, and I don't see how this relates to some hospitals significantly overcharging patients. 

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.