Wondering how much you should pay for a medical service? Check our new Medstimates!

If you have ever wondered what would be a reasonable price for a medical service, you are not alone. Millions of Americans, especially those who are uninsured, walk into doctors offices every year with no idea of how much their care will cost. That’s a scary feeling, especially if you have to pay for all of it on your own, or if you are unsure how much of the costs your insurance company will cover.

How many people go to get their car repaired without knowing how much it will cost? Or without checking around for high quality, reasonably priced auto shops? I feel it’s safe to assume not very many. Why should our health care be any different? I would argue its more important than your auto repair.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Dr. Benjamin Brewer, Even Doctors Guess At Health Charges, asks “Why can’t you find out how much medical care costs before you’re treated?” Weird thing is, he’s a doctor. Shouldn’t he know? Or at least have an idea of where to find some information on costs?

Well he doesn’t. And like countless other Americans, especially those striving to save money on high deductible plans or uninsured, he was in the dark about how much his daughter’s stitches (which were needed while on vacation) were going to cost at a near by hospital – how about $63.62 a stitch ($827 total)!!

I am in the same boat (no pun intended here)… I fell off a boat and went to the ER a few days later fearing a broken foot. I told the ER doc that I was on a high deductible health plan and did not want any unnecessary tests run. At the end of it all the doctor checked me out, did not feel that I even needed an xray, and sent me home with a prescription for pain medicine.

A few weeks later I got a bill for $604 from the hospital for my emergency room visit (billing code 99284). Then a week later another bill from the ER doc for about $260. My ER bill was negotiated down by my insurance carrier to $440, and my doctors bill down to $120 making my total out-of-pocket $600. That experience will certainly make me think twice about getting treated the next time I think I “broke” my foot. Also it made me wonder if my experience at one of the other 3 hospitals in my area, or even the acute care clinic, would have been less expensive. I should have done a little bit of research.

Hence why I am bringing our new MEDSTIMATE ratings to your attention. If our new Medstimates were up and running, I could have checked them out to see how much I could have expected to pay for my “broken” foot. Here is a more detailed example of how you can use the new Medstimate ratings: I could have looked up Vanderbilt, Saint Thomas, Centennial and even Baptist and found out how much I could have expected to pay at each hospital for my emergency room visit. Maybe at the end of the day I would have made the same decision, however I would have had a better idea of how much I may be asked to pay (and maybe kept my mouth from hitting the floor when I got the bill).

If you are uninsured the Medstimate can also be very helpful. Rather than paying full price for your medical services (no one on insurance pays full price… why should you?) you can look up the Medstimate for your particular services (or provider) and use it as a benchmark for negotiating your bill. You should never pay the full billed amount, and now the Medstimate provides you with an educated price range closer to what you should pay.

If anyone has any questions… doesn’t understand… it never hurts to ask. We have officially launched our Medstimate in relation to diagnosis and medical services will be coming in the next couple months… Hip Hip Hooray for TRANSPARENCY!!