God this a thousand times. How in the /fuck/ have we allowed our medical system to come to this?
I get the negotiation side of things. I get that the leverage insurance companies have is the culprit. But at the end of the day, hospitals just upcharge so they have the upper hand in negotiation. There’s no reason that individuals who choose not to go the insurance route are artificially charge X times what insurance companies are. There’s no excuse.
Charge them the cost of the procedures with whatever markup is reasonable for the hospital to stay in business. It shouldn’t be any other way.
I get the negotiation side of things. I get that the leverage insurance companies have is the culprit. But at the end of the day, hospitals just upcharge so they have the upper hand in negotiation. There’s no reason that individuals who choose not to go the insurance route are artificially charge X times what insurance companies are. There’s no excuse.
Charge them the cost of the procedures with whatever markup is reasonable for the hospital to stay in business. It shouldn’t be any other way.