NEW YORK TIMES: “ …An artificial hip, however, costs only about $350 to manufacture in the United States, according to Dr. Blair Rhode, an orthopedist and entrepreneur whose company is developing generic implants. In Asia, it costs about $150, though some quality control issues could arise there, he said. Hospitals and orthopedic clinics typically pay $4,500 to $7,500 for an artificial hip, according to MD Buyline and Orthopedic Network News, which track device pricing. But those numbers balloon with the cost of installation equipment and all the intermediaries’ fees, including an often hefty hospital markup.
“So why are implant list prices so high, and rising by more than 5 percent a year? In the United States, nearly all hip and knee implants — sterilized pieces of tooled metal, plastic or ceramics — are made by five companies, which some economists describe as a cartel. Manufacturers tweak old models and patent the changes as new products, with ever-bigger price tags…
“That is why the hip implant for Joe Catugno, a patient at the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York, accounted for nearly $37,000 of his approximately $100,000 hospital bill; Cigna, his insurer, paid close to $70,000 of the charges. At Mills-Peninsula Health Services in San Mateo, Calif., Susan Foley’s artificial knee, which costs about the same as a hip joint, was billed at $26,000 in a total hospital tally of $112,317. The components of Sonja Nelson’s hip at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla., accounted for $30,581 of her $50,935 hospital bill. Insurers negotiate discounts on those charges, and patients have limited responsibility for the differences… “ … (more)
In a capitalist market where prices for all to see we would go to Belgium (or Canada) to get a hip replacement, not try and manage 17% of the economy. It appears the government would rather make calories more visible than medical prices. If I recall, the government and their pals in the drug companies, had a coronary when people bought drugs from Canada.
EDITOR: But what is meant by “we would go to Belgium”. “We” don’t get to make the decision and, for the most part, don’t even care. “We” have health insurance. The insurer deals with our local doctors and hospitals. The insurer is not likely to suggest “we” go to Belgium or even up to Canada.
And why would “we”? After all, “we” paid for insurance.
A ‘single payer health care system’ as is common in other advanced nations would set fair pricing. An approach such as ‘Medicare for everyone’ would bring our health care cost into parity with other nations and provide better health care for our population.
Two-thirds of healthcare is already paid for by a single payer: The Government. Unfortunately, payments from Medicare and Medicaid do not cover the true cost – not charges – of providing the care that seniors and others receive. Fair or unfair, the providers make up the difference by turning to the insured in America (who face annual double-digit rate increases from insurance plans trying to make their profit margins). Moving more to a single payer means more hospital closures, with the survivors forming mega systems (re: HMA joining CHS) to gain efficiencies and bargaining power.