//medical.costs

Posted by Brian Whitmarsh | 12/28/09 8:02 PM | | 0 comments »

Regardless of what you think about health insurance reform, I expect that many people are disgusted by the costs of medical services in general.  I think that's where the problem really is.
I recently visited my doctor for a dry cough that I've had for many months (an itching in my throat).  He thought it was a reaction I've developed to a prescription medicine I take (and I think he's right.  I switched now and the cough has pretty much gone away).  Other than taking my blood pressure, he did not touch me, did not examine me, did not have any lab work done... he just made a hypothesis and talked.  The whole visit was probably around 5 minutes.  I got the bill at the end of last week, and it was $101.
That is crazy to me.  It works out to around $1200 an hour, for someone to make an educated guess.  I'm not complaining about the quality, as I think he helped my problem, but how is that cost justified?  No wonder the insurance companies try to get out of paying.
On top of it, the cure was to switch me from the medication I was on (which was a generic) to another, that is not available as generic, so after insurance my cost has increased almost tenfold.  I'm all for the pharmaceutical companies to recoup research costs and make some profit, but again it seems way out of balance.

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