Quote:

Originally Posted by MaDalton i worked about 8 years in medical business - for Siemens Medical and for Henry Schein, one of your Fortune 500 companies i know pretty well what i am talking about - thanks

X-rays are only used in the US for bone breaks and some specialized cases. Doppler imaging as well as CAT enhanced and MRI imaging is used -- these imaging methods create much better images for problems with organs, muscles, or tissues -- this leads to better clinical diagnosis.

These imaging methods are more expensive to use but the diagnostic advantages outweigh the costs.

Still, when you compare the costs at a imaging laboratory to a hospital the hospital charges 5X the price. What makes them so fuckin' special -- they can get away with it! I can see the hospital charging 50% more that might be justified by their higher operating expense but 400% no fuckin' way.

This is a big part of the inefficient use of healthcare dollars. In a fair and open market you could not get away with this -- there has to be a certain collusion between the health insurers in this country and the hospitals.

I think that the hospitals are soaking the insured to make up for their lowered payments for patients on Medicaid or using Medicare benefits. This has not been adequately addressed IMHO -- Business as Usual