Much like used car lots, swap-meets, and that alleged hidden menu at Arbys (where you can get something disgusting known as “wet fries” and I’m sorry) — Californians, and likely other states, are discovering that many healthcare providers have several price lists. There is no transparency to pricing.

T…hat’s not how it’s supposed to work. “Under a current California law called the Payers’ Bill of Rights, it requires hospitals and medical centers to report the costs of their procedures and services. But health policy experts say these charges—the so-called sticker prices—are not representative of what patients, or their insurance providers, will end up paying.”

If one were tracking “Bad Ideas in Healthcare I would think that would be towards the top of the list. Haggling for the best price in medicine makes healthcare into used car buying; and maybe healthcare shouldn’t be like used car buying. It should be like healthcare. Unless you’re David Lansky, president and CEO of Pacific Business Group on Health. “Lansky says in a perfect world, finding and getting the best deal at the hospital should be like going to buy a car.”

Which sounds like the opposite of a perfect world.

Other headlines to make you think:

  • Top 4 Small-Cap Stocks In The Healthcare Information Services: Computer Programs & Systems (NASDAQ: CPSI), Medidata Solutions (NASDAQ: MDSO), Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII), Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (NASDAQ: MDRX). But you didn’t hear that from me. You heard it from these guys.

Next Article: Lawmakers Offer New Plan to End 'Doc-Fix' ...

Advertisement