Faculty Bibliography

[...]a new Health Care Cost Institute study found that these bloated charges are, in part, the reason health care costs have risen at double the rate of inflation during the recession, even as patients used less medical care than before

For example, the cost for an exercise echo stress test in Manhattan varies from $2,500 to $5,000. The Weill Cornell Medical Center charges $2,500 for that test, but if a patient is willing to pay cash, the charge is only $1,000. This discounted cash approach is becoming more commonplace, but with a hitch. The cash option is only intended to make care more affordable for the uninsured and not to provide an option to those who are insured. In fact, hospitals are forced to charge private insurers more because of their care of the uninsured and Medicaid patients, who pay a drastically reduced rate. In California, Los Alamitos Medical Center charges more than $4,000 for a CT scan of the abdomen, according to a state website. The negotiated rate that Blue Cross pays is a little over $2,000. The cash price is only $250 -- but again to help the uninsured and not to provide an option to those who are insured, according to the California Hospital Association. In fact, many health insurance policies limit the amount you can pay out of pocket in a given year