Why a joint replacement costs $30,000 in one hospital and $160,000 in another. The answer is: because no one really questions the prices.
If you need a lower joint replacement, Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington D.C. will charge you or your insurance provider an average of $30,000, according to The Washington Post. Across town at George Washington University, the same procedure will cost $69,000. And at Las Colinas Medical Center near Dallas? $160,832.
Those bewildering price differences were revealed by the Obama administration to reporters at The Washington Post, New York Times and Huffington Post. They represent what different hospitals charge Medicare for the exact same procedures ? information the government has been collecting for years but was previously only available to researchers for a high fee.
Why is there such a wild disparity between prices? Because hospitals don't have much of an incentive to keep them low. They can essentially charge whatever they want.
Now, most Americans don't actually see or pay the eye-popping amounts that hospitals charge for procedures. Medicare, for instance, reimburses hospitals with standardized amounts for each treatment, regardless of what the hospital actually bills, notes The New York Times. And private health insurance companies negotiate the price of each procedure with every hospital.
Those bewildering price differences were revealed by the Obama administration to reporters at The Washington Post, New York Times and Huffington Post. They represent what different hospitals charge Medicare for the exact same procedures ? information the government has been collecting for years but was previously only available to researchers for a high fee.
Why is there such a wild disparity between prices? Because hospitals don't have much of an incentive to keep them low. They can essentially charge whatever they want.
Now, most Americans don't actually see or pay the eye-popping amounts that hospitals charge for procedures. Medicare, for instance, reimburses hospitals with standardized amounts for each treatment, regardless of what the hospital actually bills, notes The New York Times. And private health insurance companies negotiate the price of each procedure with every hospital.
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