Study Finds Wide Range Of Prices That Hospitals Charge For Similar Services

May 28, 2011 10:19 AM

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Consumer, Heard On WBZ NewsRadio 1030, Local, News

BOSTON (AP) – A new study is documenting dramatic differences in the price that Massachusetts hospitals charge for similar procedures.

The report released Thursday by the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy found at least a threefold price difference for every service.

Massachusetts General Hospital, for example, was paid a median price of $9,225 per case of pneumonia, compared to Brockton Hospital which was paid a median price of $5,524.

A second study found that private group health insurance premiums in Massachusetts jumped by as much as 10 percent from 2007 to 2009, far faster than the increase in the rate of inflation of about 2 percent in the Northeast.

Deductibles and co-payments also increased during the same time.

The Patrick administration said the studies show the need to rein in health costs.

Study Finds Wide Range Of Prices That Hospitals Charge For Similar Services

emom

Ok Like it took a study to tell us something many already KNEW. I have know this for over 20 years. YES I HAVE,, I have said it before and had to fight it with the insurance companies/…. WAIT have seen it thru the insurance companies… Its not unusual for a doctor , hospital or other kind of medical facility to have different costs. What the insurance companies do is take an average of 50 doctors in a certain area zone , and this becomes the price they will in turn pay ,,, I have seen the cost for a procedure vary amongst many providers. Some only a few dollars but some as much as $30 – $50 difference. But most insurance companies will only pay UP TO a certain amount
Hospitals are the worst,,, Besides reining in the cost of health care , They need to stop these providers from charging absurd prices..
Italo

I just got my itemized hospital surgery and post-operative admission statement…for a procedure having needed to be done a couple of times previously. This time, after my health insurance’s co-payment, my balance due amounts to the price of a new computer or thereabouts.. And I found instances of discrepancies on certain dates regarding some meds and procedures. So you really have to read over EVERYTHING these days–and fight and stand up for yourself. We are commodities and liabilities to hospitals–but we go home with our problems and recoveries, and we are not only patients but consumers and human beings. I’m grateful I have some insurance, but even more so that I realize that we all have to stand up for ourselves when dealing with docs, hospitals, and insurance providers.