How Much Does Your Doctor Charge?

How much do they charge for a short fifteen minute visit? Is it more if you are a new patient? Doctors vary both in quality and in cost, therefore it is important to know whether the services being rendered are in line with the costs. It is a problem with our healthcare industry that prices charged by doctors and hospitals are not as transparent as we would typically see in many other industries. This lack of transparency prevents us from being better consumers because we simply cannot gauge the value of a doctor and/or a hospital based on their pricing.

Imagine going to different restaurants and not knowing before hand the cost of the meal. Then, when the bill arrives, that it would be too difficult to understand. This is what happens today under our healthcare system. It is specifically designed to disengage the consumer from being a good consumer.

Now we understand that many of these bills and charges are paid through our insurance company, but as more and more health insurance plans have higher deductibles, co-insurance, or exclude various services, it is becoming ever more important that we as consumers are involved. It is very easy to understand that an individual consumer will always tend to want to be a good consumer and get their money’s worth.

Health insurance is an important part of our family budget, we need more transparency from our medical providers.