but I wish there were.<\/p>\n
Simultaneously I\u2019m irritated by the massive increase in the employee share of the healthcare premiums at work (68% for us, 95% for one of my colleagues), and trying to push back on a medical charge from this summer. <\/p>\n
The premium increases are particularly irritating because the company likes to promote itself as an expert in advising its clients on how to reduce their healthcare expenses. \u00a0But apparently (I can say this because this is an anonymous blog) we don\u2019t actually know what we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n
The medical charge: \u00a0that\u2019s especially maddening. \u00a0Earlier this summer (I didn\u2019t blog about it at the time), we were at the marina, an hour and 15 minutes from home, when my son got a splinter from running around barefoot on the dock. \u00a0This was a pretty big splinter, and straight in, and, even with our first aid kit, we didn\u2019t think we\u2019d be able to get it out, so we set out looking for an urgent treatment center, and were referred to a local hospital which we were told had an urgent care center. \u00a0Turned out it was an ER which would also provide \u201curgent care\u201d treatment \u2014 but in our case, they said right away, \u201canything with broken skin is classified as ER.\u201d <\/p>\n
And this turned out to be a frickin\u2019 huge ER bill \u2014 well, in the grand scheme of things, not as bad as a broken bone might have been, but still: \u00a0more expensive to remove a splinter than the charge we had earlier for stitches in my other son\u2019s forehead, even though, in both cases, there were the usual insurance adjustments.<\/p>\n
And yet \u2014 what could we have done? \u00a0Well, besides go to the drugstore and load up on first aid supplies, antiseptic, etc.? \u00a0It was Saturday evening. \u00a0We were pretty much stuck. \u00a0True, there were two hospitals equally distant \u2014 we could have chosen the other one \u2014 but we thought we were going to an urgent care center. \u00a0And how could we have known which had the better price?<\/p>\n
So this is where insurance companies could actually help themselves and their customers save money: \u00a0I want an app. \u00a0I want an app that allows me to provide my location and the basic medical issue (\u201csplitnter\u201d or \u201cstitches\u201d), and be told where to go for the lowest price. \u00a0How hard can that be? \u00a0The insurance company knows what the hospitals are going to charge because these are contracted rates. \u00a0Sure, there\u2019s no guarantee that the splinter-removal isn\u2019t somehow more complicated than expected, but it\u2019s still at least a bit of an aid. \u00a0They could just as easily add in the opening hours, too, right? \u00a0I suppose they could throw in the ability to chat or facetime with a nurse who could talk you through a home remedy, too. <\/p>\n
And in light of the reports of \u201csurprise\u201d out-of-network charges, I\u2019d add another piece to the puzzle. \u00a0If I\u2019m going to an in-network hospital, I want to know that the doctors on call there are all in-network. \u00a0If my insurance provider can\u2019t give me that assurance, I want them to at least ask hospitals and providers whether they are willing to commit to not pulling in out-of-network providers unexpectedly \u2014 and I want to be given that information so I can comparison-shop properly. <\/p>\n
Of course, the problem is that, in our employer-provided model, how are insurance companies going to market this great app to their prospective customers? \u00a0The best they could do is pitch their product to the employer selecting the plans to provide to their employees \u2014 but is a plan sponsor really going to pick a plan based on the promise of lower employee out-of-pocket costs? <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
but I wish there were. Simultaneously I\u2019m irritated by the massive increase in the employee share of the healthcare premiums at work (68% for us, 95% for one of my colleagues), and trying to push back on a medical charge from this summer. The premium increases are particularly irritating because the company likes to promote […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n