 (Image: anolobb under CC 3.0) |
Medical imaging tests are an innovation that have helped many people catch diseases before they spread and improve their health. However, they have caused health insurance rates to skyrocket over the past two years.
There are several factors responsible for the 20% increase:
- Investment in expensive new machines, such as digital mammography machines
- More imaging tests being performed in hospitals, instead of cheaper freestanding clinics, which are up to twice as expensive
- An increase in the number of tests performed by doctors
- Hospitals substituting tests with higher reimbursement rates (e.g. CT scans) for ones with lower reimbursement (e.g. X-rays)
- Hospitals increasing prices for the same treatments
Health insurance companies often require pre-authorization before paying for medical imaging, but they often pay high rates when it is approved. They pay significantly higher amounts to hospitals that perform digital mammograms as opposed to standard film mammograms, even though the former have not yet proven to be more effective. Doing so encourages hospitals to encourage such tests, even when it may be wasteful.
The cost is then passed onto patients through their health insurance plans.
