Bingo

It’s not hard.... “Your XXXXX is busted. I can do this for $458 or I can fix it for good for $973. Here are the risks and benefits of both or you can choose neither. Pay the lady up front and we will get started or go do the discount place down the road.”

This is the first time in history the dentists have been the example to follow. Yea, us!

P.S. Don’t listen to WAWI.... He hasn’t set foot into a dental office since 1978!

Single payer will just create more corruption in the already screwed up system.

Medicare and insurance companies are partners with the medical fields. They basically serve as the collection agency and in this case unlike most others they are collecting up front. What's screwed up is the pricing is not determined up front or even between the customer and provider. It set by the collection agency and the provider. They have managed to create a large pot of money and the only thing you really see is a push pull between the 2. The customer is not in the conversation. There is a similar situation between other types of insurance and lawyers. Dental and orthodontics show a more realistic number because typically the dental coverage is much lower so the customer has to be in the conversation for any significant services. But I flip burgers so what do I know.

And dont worry Doc. When I need that dental work I'm coming to you. Probably get you a new boat by the time you get done with my mouth lol.

Surprise Billing should be illegal, unless the patient can agree to the charge(s) before treatment. Then it is no longer a surprise. I remember getting bills from ER physicians and anesthesiologists who where out of network. Was never told, just got a bill for hundred's of dollars after insurance had paid.

This is true - dentists are just about the only office you can call and get a straight answer on price.

I'm not sure why other offices struggle with it so much. I think it has much less to do with the doctors or office staff and much more to do with corporate policies that intend to gouge consumers. Government is absolutely not the answer, but there has to be some way to put more transparency into it. It seems to me that the large companies know their time is limited and they'd rather milk the cow for all she's worth for a few more years and then hand it over to the government than try to be fair and push off socialized medicine for another few decades.

Pre-Covid, the medical industry was spending a half a billion dollars a year on lobbying. Far and away the largest lobbying effort in history. This is what we describe as corruption in other countries, but call it legal here in America.

I’m just a pediatric dentist and I performed most of my procedures while patient was under general anesthesia. The patients, depending on their insurance would pay anywhere from $0 to $3500 for the OR room. They would know beforehand what the cost would be. My procedure cost would vary depending on what was found during the procedure but they’d be aware of any changes in the treatment based on the findings. Rarely were we ever surprised

And that's how it should be. In every other transaction you can imagine there is very close to 100 percent transparency yet it the medical field they fight it tooth and nail.

I would also second Dave's opinion on catastrophic policy. I'm under cobra currently and pay 24k a year for a family policy. I will be shopping hard for a 10k deductible where I pay 100 percent upto that point when my cobra runs out. In hindsight I wish I would have done this already.

I

That would be great but this is what I always had. it was 500mth for my family. I paid anything under 7k. Now that is pretty much how all policies work now but the cost is 1200 mth.
The way it works now when you get sick you spend all the wealth your family might have and then you beg for money on the internet. sad
Think about WAWI plan ,24k a year!!? That is outrageous and unsustainable. If you make 50-60k can you pay over 10K for insurance? not unless you live under a bridge.

When you say you are paying 500 a month are you self employed or is your employers paying the rest. Most full coverage plans I have seen with low deductibles cost in the range of what I pay. You have to add the employer portion to get the real cost. I'm self employed so I pay entire amount

Obama was elected largely on the promise of health care reform and made an effort to make it a bipartisan effort, which was a big mistake. As a result, the public option was scuttled which would have kept the insurance companies in line. As a result, insurance companies with well-funded lobbys took it over and slanted it to their benefit. Even though I'm on Medicare with no complaints compared to my pre-Medicare coverage and costs, I do realize the ordeals younger folks especially with families go through to get affordable, effective coverage. One of the reasons I will vote for the candidate who at least hints at pursuing a public option. This one of the most important issues to many citizens in this country. I am ready for action other than trying to ditch the old plan with no evidence, except for empty rhetoric, of a replacement after 4 years.

As a result of the bipartisan effort, the public option was scuttled, yet the plan received zero republican votes?

If that was the fix to all this, why didn't they add it back in since they didn't get any GOP votes anyway?

Answer: democrats don't have a %@##%*&(! clue how to fix anything in this country, including healthcare.

I will agree with you on one thing - Trump promised a replacement plan and came up completely empty. Totally unacceptable if he didn't actually have a plan. But at least he's tried to reign in drug costs, which has helped.