Hospitals have published prices for their services, but patients cannot understand these prices.

Since the beginning of 2019, hospitals in the United States have published prices for their services on the Internet, but to understand them is very difficult.

Фото: Depositphotos

Published prices may include up to 60 000 titles that are difficult to decipher, such as “ABBOTT TECNIS TORIC ASPHERIC IOL ZCT300 21.0D SE 3.00 CYL.” And “FILL, PULL, VOID”. And if you are not a data analyst and not a programmer, you may have problems reading these files, writes NBC News.

The largest U.S. hospitals are largely complying with the new rule. An NBC News analysis of 24 of the country's largest hospitals found that 19 of them published their price lists online, although accessing them is difficult, requiring multiple links and tabs on the site.

The officials behind the introduction of this rule say that it will increase the level of transparency in the work of hospitals, but many public figures and advocates of patients' rights do not believe that this innovation will drastically change something.

According to lawyers, the problem is that the documents prepared in accordance with this rule are difficult to find, difficult to understand, difficult to compare, and that they do not reflect the final prices that consumers will actually pay.

Descriptions in documents can be vague, with similar-sounding services at vastly different prices. For example, the price list at New York Presbyterian Hospital includes a service called TREAT FINGER FRACTURE EACH for $479. But there is another service on the list - "TREAT FINGER FRACTURE.EACH" - which costs $8.

A hospital spokesman explained that the 479 dollars cost procedure is a treatment for a mild fracture, and the 8 dollars cost procedure is for a severe bone fracture.

When descriptions are not vague, they are often listed in complex abbreviations such as “LCSKUB T / A / L> = 100CM 1ST 100SQ” and “# 10X HOOK”, for example, in the price document of the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

The representative of this medical institution explained that the hospital has an online tool that provides individual prices for services, as well as a telephone number for clients who have questions about this document.

Even the types of documents published by hospitals vary. Some hospitals made web pages with prices in tables, while others published loadable tables. Still others have made their prices available in the form of JSON or XML documents, file formats that are more often used by programmers and data analysts than by consumers.

One of the reasons why documents differ in different hospitals, is that the rule itself is written quite widely. The rule only states that hospitals must “publish a list of their current standard fees on the Internet in a machine-readable format.”

Those who follow the health care industry say that price disclosure itself is a great value. A representative of the National Patient Advocacy Fund, Caitlin Donovan, said the documents would be useful for patient advocacy groups, journalists, and researchers working in the industry.

But the problem, according to lawyers, is that the prices indicated in fact have no meaning. As a result of negotiations, the insurance company will negotiate a lower price for the service. Patient costs for Medicare, Medicaid, or veteran medical services are restricted by law. And low-income patients without insurance are likely to work with the hospital billing department to lower their total bills.

Read also on ForumDaily:

United States on the threshold of a catastrophic nursing shortage

5 health insurance tips for those who soon retire

6 ways to stop the dentist from cheating on you

A guide for an immigrant in New York: how you can save on medical care

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.