LA Times Reports That California Patients Who Pay Cash Get Rock-Bottom Price Discounts from Hospitals and Physicians
Clinical labs and pathology groups will want to be prepared for cash-paying patients who demand discounted prices for medical laboratory tests
For decades, it has typically been difficult for a patient to get, in advance of treatment, a specific price from a healthcare provider. This has been true, whether the provider was a hospital, an office-based physician, or an ancillary clinical service. This lack of “price transparency” makes it difficult for patients to shop for healthcare providers—including clinical laboratories—based on the same combination of quality and price that they use to make other important purchases in their lives.
Recently, the Los Angeles Times looked into the arcane world of healthcare pricing. Its reporter was astonished to discover that, in California, it was possible for a cash-paying patient to be charged a price by a hospital that was just 16% of the “patient list price.” Furthermore, this cash price was less than half of what that hospital had negotiated with at least one major health plan! (more…)
