1. Manufacturer price does not include shipping, delivery, inventory, staff costs, etc., which the hospital still has to pay.
2. Medicare pays about 60%, and Medicaid maybe 40% of the hospital's cost, not their asking price. And the hospital isn't permitted to deny service to those who can't pay even that much.
3. Those of us who are either responsible enough to budget for medical care (doable for most, even on minimum wage, with a bit of prioritizing needs over wants), or lucky enough to have a job that has decent health care insurance, are stuck footing the bills for everyone else.
That they are... And don't forget the $14 Tylenol... sigh
ReplyDeleteI can get four giant bottles of that stuff from Sam's Club for about the same. Or, I can ask for it at the hospital and pay for twenty people's doses that would rather go to the ER for a headache for "free" than buy their own.
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