Page 3 - Charge Master News Today

With a million exclamation points. can you explain what is behind the price differences? >> a lot of it has to do with the fact like we reported in our march 4th issue, medicaid operates on the theory that nonprofit is not for profit. they fold in details like overhead whooshtion d overhead, what it costs to keep the lights on and arrive at a reasonable figure. hospitals, when they decide what to charge outside the medicare structure rely on a double secret pricing menu called the charge master,...

It is really important in these cases. but the second thing is go on -- this website is pretty friendly. i was checking it out. you go on the website, you can figure out that one hospital, quality control, as maggie suggested, better prices than another one. >> could go out there on the internet and -- >> get insurance. >> thank you. the charge master, jared bernstein. thats it for this edition of "now." ill be back tomorrow at noon eastern when im joined by the great sam stein, michael tamaske ...

A spokesman for keck hospital told the new york times, academic medical centers have a higher cost structure. and the vice president of the american hospital association told the washington post that the official bill called the charge master rate isnt always paid in full. quote, the charge master, my goodness, the charge master can be confusing because it is highly variable and generally not what a consumer would pay. even an uninsured person isnt always paying the charge master rate. well go t...

Pretoria, south africa. it was inside a short time ago that a judge granted bail to olympic runner oscar pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend on valentines day, so we will let you know when we see oscar pistorius. in the meantime, i think everybodys got a story about an expensive doctors visit or hospital bill, but "time" magazines new cover story "bitter pill, why amedical bill are killing us" breaks down the numbers. what they found is truly shocking. let me just give you on...

Thank you. >> thank you. >> there were so many unbelievable examples. let me start with steven h. he had out patient back surgery. total bill $86,951 out patient but just a few examples. he was charged three bucks for the ruler that marked the incision, $31 for the strap that held him on the table. $32 for a blanket and just the sort of like basic medical supplies came to almost $8,000. how common is this? >> it is exceedingly common and we have horror stories throughout the entire piece. there ...

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