why do hospitals overcharge every single thing possible....ain't they making enough money already?

Question

i see so much corruption going on in american hospitals and pharmacies....when is all this going to stop

Answer 1

I am thankful that I live in a country with a free health care system.

Answer 2

Hospitals have to maintain relatively high fees to subsidize the medicare/medicade/no insurance populations. The reimbursement from medicare/medicade is frequently below true cost. If you have insurance, normally the hospital and insurance company can negotiate a discount because if the hospital is covered by the insurance, they be assured a population of paying patients. Hospitals many times get their medications either free or heavily discounted.
In retail pharmacy, the manufacturers charge a high price to the wholesalers, and they, in turn, change a high price to the pharmacy, and thus to you. There is also the cost to fill a prescription and that is currently calculated at about $11 per prescription.

Answer 3

Hospitals really don't make a lot of money, in fact some lose money and are operating off of the "war chest" they built up over years of past profit.

The biggest problems at most hospitals are around how their hands are tied in terms of efficiency of operations by the medical staff and the insurance companies.

Operating room time is a perfect example - most operating room suites are jammed in the mornings because surgeons want to operate in the morning while they are fresh and then see patients at their offices (setting up the next operations) in the afternoons. In order to accomodate this, hospitals must carry enough supplies and labor to handle a big push early in the morning, and then must keep enough of a staff on throughout the day "just in case". A normal business would charge higher rates for OR demand at peak times and less for OR demand at off-peak times - something hospitals aren't allowed to do. The result, higher costs for everyone because expensive equipment and resources sit idle during much of the day.

Also keep in mind that most hospitals have to do a lot of "charity care" - care for the uninsured. These cases are often quite costly because the patients have waited until a situation got very bad. This "free" care is really paid for by the rest of us and through the medical plans of the insured - as the number of uninsured climb, the greater the contribution has to be from the insured.

There are no easy answers here, for sure.

Answer 4

There are a lot of corruptions in BC Canada hospitals as well. The gov't needs to put more funding into hospitals, not do cut backs for beds, for patients that need ICU care, surgeries are a JOKE here. You get on a huge long wait list for surgeries here, even just to see a specialist. It is a joke. They depend on Hospital lotteries now, and other fund raising events. You sometimes get a prize, in the end you are doing something good as well, putting your money into the hospital, which the gov't doesn't seem to have the compassion to do.

Answer 5

they "overcharge" because insurance companies perform audits to weasel out of paying for everything they can.

they "overcharge" because so many people are either indigent, refuse to pay, or declare bankruptcy.

they "overcharge" because they get sued by people that feel that 'someone has to pay' for every outcome that is anything less than perfect.

but in all fairness there are some that overcharge because they are greedy bastards. Just remember that vast majority of hospitals and pharmacies are in the first three groups.

Answer 6

Actually, the official rates only get charged to private individuals with no insurance - insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid demand deep discounts and hospitals that don't have the high income procedures, like plastic surgery and heart work, are hard pressed to hire enough nurses to cover 24 hours 7 days a week because they are rare and demand high wages.
Of course, you see corruption.

Answer 7

Because they control the market and they can.