Do you believe that the rising cost of healthcare is due to the uninsured?
As I type this, I’m sitting behind the console of GE Healthcare’s 64 slice VCT Scanner. It’s slow in the ER right now, so I can dick off on the internet for a bit. I hear all of this talk about how we “pay for everyone’s healthcare who don’t have insurance.” This premise is laughable. No we do not. That is a lie from the left. The hospital simply writes it off. It has little effect on the cost of services. But….. I’ll tell you what is a driving force behind increasing costs for patients. The cost of an Abdomen and Pelvis CT with IV contrast is around $2000 at my facility. Why? Because the aforementioned CT scanner’s price tag is a cool $1 million. The yearly service contract runs about $100k and supplies run another $250k. The scanner is a money maker for sure. One of the hospital’s greatest sources of revenue…. but why does it cost so much? Because aside from the cost to operate, the CT must make up the difference for those areas that operate at a loss. The ER? Nah, they pretty much break even, even though that’s where the uninsured go. Inpatients? Nah, they actually are in the black. (just barely) Where then? ……hmmmmm…. 40% of this facility’s loss in accrued by things like occupational therapy, drug rehab, corporate compliance, idiotic mandates, liability insurance and claims, employee entitlements…. etc. It is NOT. Let me repeat that…. NOT because of the uninsured. oops, well I just got an order from the ER for an abdomen/pelvis CT. It seems the guy has a stomach ache and a history of diverticulitis. We already know what’s wrong with him…. but hey, let’s do a CT so we don’t get sued in case we’re wrong. It could be an aneurysm I suppose….. at any rate medicaid will pay us $212.00 for the scan…..christ……
JA N, yes, you are correct. The cost is the same. 30 minutes of my time plus electricity comes to about $25.00 in real costs to the hospital for the CT. The HUGE markup is to cover non-essential services often FORCED on us by a well meaning government. example? JCAHO. What a pitifully worthless (and expensive) institution that is!