I have found this to be the case also. The insurance companies pay more than self payer.

The insurance company does the subsidizing. Drug prices are insanely allover the map and the insurance companies pick and choose A.What they subsidize and B.How much they subsidize.

My brother was given a prescription by his doctor that costs $5000. The insurance company wouldn't cover it. My brother told the doctor that he couldn't afford it so the doctor said "okay" and never brought it up again.

Can I ask- what's your deductible and max out of pocket/year?

Last year I had a neurological condition and had to get a bunch of tests(blood tests, MRIs, catscans, eyeball tests) to see if I had a brain tumor or cancer or MS or whatever messing with my brains, and since I didn't have insurance I paid cash. Across the board I was charged about 1/3 of what the cost would have been for all the tests with insurance coverage.

The USA's health care industry is the next biggest scam, right behind the real estate bubble and the finance/banking industry scams.

Depends on who they're paying- most of the time, they negotiate the cost, so the care providers jack up the price because they know they'll have to reduce it.

I'm not to sure about this "cash discount" deal.


I went to refill my prescription one time when I was on the "real" version, and didn't have current insurance coverage.

When insured I paid nothing, and the insurance company paid $300.00, yet when I went to pay the bill was $1,600.00, and upon questioning, I was told the difference was because the insurance company had negotiated the lower price.



Bottom line? The pharmaceutical companies are also a major part of the problem.
Any of you read the latest on the 1000+% drug price increases?

It's hard to know the cost going in because income and coverage affect everything. In addition, if someone wants low/zero deductible and higher total coverage, the ACA considers that a "Cadillac Plan", which is what they think wealthy people will have, so they slap a 40% penalty on it. Well, it's not just the wealthy who might want to have this and if they slap another 40% onto the cost, they may as well eliminate the deductible. Then, there's the IRS penalty on those who don't buy in. This is hardly a good plan and it goes against most of the points they said they would avoid. I have also read that being admitted for observation isn't covered. I'd like to know how someone's condition can be monitored and treated quickly if they're not in a hospital. Emergency conditions occur so quickly that waiting for EMS to arrive could prove fatal, especially if the person is alone.

For all of the talk about how great the ACA is and how it has resulted in more people now having insurance, only a bit more than 10% of the previously uninsured have been added to the list of 'insured'.

Hardly impressive, considering the fact that it's now mandatory and those avoiding it are subject to IRS penalty.

The US has about 319 million people, many of whom don't go for medical treatment in a calendar year. We have lost many hospitals because people were going to the ER for every little headache, blister, stubbed toe and used them for what should have been treated by a small walk-in clinic.

According to this link, total health care costs will hit $4 Trillion this year.

[Link: forbes.com]

To be clear my comment is about service not medication. Every dental office or doctor office i have been in over the last 20 years charges less when paying cash.

So here's another "out there" thing I have going on.


I can have my annual physical done at the medical facility where the wife works, and the deal is that I get paid $50.00 for doing so.

Talking to the nurse for the doc that I usually go to, and she's not sure how the doc is going to like this... Like I care.

All I need from him is that he fills my prescriptions...

5k is a lot of money for a prescription. What was the outcome? Did other medication or treatment help your brother or has he got problems because he didn't have the medication?

My brother is not a very organized person, hes very laid back and non-confrontational. He had been going back and forth to the doctor himself for a couple of weeks and always returned with no news. At one point my mother had to go with him because the procedure he was going through that day required he be knocked out. He couldn't drive home so she went with him.

While she was there the doctor began asking my brother if he did things she asked him to do and if he had taken the medication she subscribed and my brothers answers were "not sure" or "not yet". Because of that my mother makes a point to go with him to make sure hes doing what hes supposed to.

The $5000 medication...he had the prescription for 2 months in his back pack...he forgot about it. He was reminded of it when i took him for a procedure. That night we went to a pharmacy where he was informed that it was $5000 out of pocket. A week later he told the doctor he couldn't afford it and she said "don't worry about it".

My brother has been working through the entire thing. I wonder what would have happened if he got sick enough to have to leave work for a while. One day he woke up and his skin was yellow. That prompted him to go to the doctor where they told him he needed a liver transplant. At that point he basically went vegan/water only, lost 100 pounds and got removed from the transplant list.

I went to the emergency room last year. Ambulance ride and apx 2 hours in the hospital. "we don't know whats wrong with you" is what i was told while there.

I later figured out on my own that it was vertigo. When the vertigo occurred i didnt know what was going on and i began to panic and my blood pressure went up and i freaked out and called 911. Once i knew what was going on i was fine. I learned how to stop the spinning by putting my fist in front of my face and after a month it stopped completely.

This is my hospital bill:



The $2635 charge covered a bunch of things that took place in the emergency room. The other items up there are fees for the testing kit or reviewing the results etc.

Billing was insane. Invoices came for 1 item or 2 or 3 of the items or half the items. So for example you would get 1 invoice for $41. The next day i would get an invoice that had that same $41 plus $26. The next day i would get an invoice for those two plus two more.

What happened was i had to leave for a job in Florida days after this occurred so i just had all these invoices on my desk when i got home. I started looking through them and decided to create a spread sheet. Thats when i realized how crazy it was. If someone just paid every invoice that came to their home they would easily pay 3 times what they owe.

This has to be by design. Can you imagine sending your client 15 invoices for a plasma TV installation?

Most expensive truck roll ever...

I think you're probably right. Just rediculous.

Dude, that's nothing compared to when my son was transferred to Wake Forest. Wake sent their pediatric specialty ambulance to pick him up with a specialist paramedic team. Hour trip each way. It easily hit five figures.