Healthcare Savvy

Crazy, irrational hospital billing (with no connection to quality)

May 8, 2013 in health care costs, health care quality, Hospital Bills

Try explaining this…

One hospital in my state, Massachusetts, bills Medicare $75,197 to take care of a patient with heart failure, another charges $13,960.

There’s a huge gap in the charge for patients with breathing problems who are put on a ventilator: $23,044 to $120,888.

Thanks to The Washington Post for this article with a great graphic that shows how much prices vary in each state, using data released today, by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Why are there huge differences in what hospitals charge?

Don’t expect a satisfying answer. Read the rest of this entry →

2 Comments »

Claim Modifiers: More Code-Speak on Your Medical Bills

April 26, 2013 in health care costs, Health Insurance, Hospital Bills, Insurance Bills

If you have ever been hospitalized or had a major test/procedure performed, you may have received a frustratingly hard to decipher medical bill from your provider. And, if you are insured, you will also have received a similarly cryptic Explanation of Benefits (EOB) describing your insurance company’s payment decision. (The EOBs can sometimes be a bit clearer and more detailed than the average provider bill.) To the average lay person, medical bill jargon does not sync with customer psychology in the way that other bills, like retail, residential services, etc. do. Most other industries present their bills in a careful way, focusing on clear billing, to make sure that customers know why they have financial responsibility.

CPT and Claim Modifier Codes

With that in mind, let’s look more closely at some of the usual suspects that show up on an unreadable medical bill. One type of common code is called a Current Procedural Terminology or CPT code. This code, in plain English, represents a service that a doctor (or other medical professional) provides.

CPTs often do not “read” well. Patients not involved in the medical industry themselves may have no idea what one of these codes represents on a bill. Looking at the charge associated with it can be frustrating when there’s no common-vocabulary explanation to make the patient remember just what was done in the provider office. This means that patients who are proactively concerned about their care, and costs, will often call providers or insurers just to ask “what does this CPT code mean?”

About Claim Modifiers

Claim modifiers are additional digits attached to a CPT to explain to an insurer or other party how a procedure may have differed from “the norm.” Some modifiers are also used to differentiate a core service from an advanced service level based on the doctor’s documentation. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: claim modifiers, CPT codes, CPT modifiers, decipher a medical bill, medical bill care and cost, medical bill help, medical bills, understand medical bill jargon No Comments »

Cutting Your Prescription Costs

March 20, 2013 in health care costs

Castlight Health is out with an app that lets members compare retail vs. mail order prices for prescriptions and find the closest pharmacy with the best deal. There are a growing number of places online where patients can find some health care prices, but most don’t include pharmaceuticals. More sites will likely follow suit because consumers are realizing they can save money by checking the mail order price or making a few calls to find out which local pharmacy offers the best deal.

by Casey Rackham

You, your employer and your health

March 19, 2013 in health care costs, Health Insurance, News

Is your employer offering rewards or penalties if you participate in a wellness program, stop smoking or lose weight?

photo credit (www.pgcompanies.com)

CVS is joining a growing list of employers who tie wellness participation to rewards and penalties. In this case, the pharmacy chain says employees can save $50 a month on their insurance if they have a series of tests (body mass index, blood pressure, etc.). Employees who don’t have the tests lose the money, $600 a year.

CVS Caremark spokesman Michael D’Angelis told the Boston Herald that the policy will help “colleagues take more responsibility for improving their health and managing health-associated costs.” The company says a third party will review and manage the employees’ test results. Some privacy advocates worry CVS and other firms will use the information to discriminate against less healthy workers who drive up health care costs.

More companies are expected to follow the example of CVS by offering incentives/penalties in exchange for monitoring employees’ health. Affordable Care Act rules that encourage these options take effect January 1, 2014. The Obama administration says expanding wellness programs “may offer our nation the opportunity to not only improve the health of Americans, but also help control health care spending.”

What’s happening in your workplace?

Searching for a Nursing Home?

March 14, 2013 in health care costs, Medicare, Member Stories

Our parents and grandparents often drain the last of their savings to pay a nursing home bill. So it makes sense to shop around, both for cost and quality. UPI has a story about this site which looks like a good place to start if you want to compare options for a friend or loved one.

The site does not show ANY nursing homes in Massachusetts with a five star rating. There are nine with four stars. In Boston, the average daily charge is $323.70 and the avg. quality rating is 2.9 stars. That’s a lot of money for average quality.

by Casey Rackham

Affordable Care Act looks to prevent chronic diseases in women

March 12, 2013 in health care costs, Health Insurance, Medical Care, Women's care

Like many people in the United States, I’m aware that the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Obama and that it aims to make sure that everyone has healthcare; however, until now I hadn’t taken the time to ask how it affects women like me. A quick glance at the services provided under the umbrella of the Affordable Care Act shows that there are a handful of preventive services that I never knew I should consider, let alone take advantage of.

photo credit (qualityquest.org)

One of the major elements of the act is encouraging women to visit their doctor in regards to preventive care services since, according to HealthCare.gov, chronic diseases that are often preventable are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75% of the nation’s health spending. If the preventive services cut down on the percentage of people with chronic diseases, then the nation’s spending spent on health will presumably go down.

Some of the services offered to women are screenings for anemia, cervical cancer, gestational diabetes, gonorrhea, Hepatitis B, and osteoporosis. Additionally, in August 2011 the Affordable Care Act introduced eight new preventive care services for women including Read the rest of this entry →

Please Medicare, you can do better than this

March 5, 2013 in health care costs, Hospital Bills, Member Stories

I wrote to Medicare a while back, asking for a price. I know nothing is simple in the world of health care costs, but I just needed one number, a number Medicare uses, I assume, to calculate payments to doctors and hospitals all the time.

Here’s what I wanted to know: how much does Medicare pay a particular hospital in Boston for a colonoscopy (it was for a story I wrote about searching for the best colonoscopy in our medical Mecca).

The first response I got, at a time when we’re supposed to have more price transparency, was ridiculous. If I can figure this out, I should be awarded an honorary masters in something, don’t you think?

For the inpatient hospital side:

If you want to calculate a hospital specific DRG payment for a specific fiscal year, look at that year’s IPPS Impact file to get the hospital’s wage index.

Then you can look at Table 5 for the FY 2009 Final Rule to get the relative weights for the MS-DRGs you are interested in. Finally, you can determine the FY 2009 labor related share and non-labor related share rates from Table 1A in the FY 2009 Final Rule.

These files and tables can be found here: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/AcuteInpatientPPS/Acute-Inpatient-Files-for-Download-Items/CMS1247872.html

Then the hospital specific DRG payment can be calculated as follows: (wage index x labor related share + non-labor related share) x DRG relative weight.

For the outpatient side:

Medicare Part B data by procedure code for specific years are posted: http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Files-for-Order/NonIdentifiableDataFiles/PartBNationalSummaryDataFile.html Data are presented by 5-digit code so you would need to know the code for CT scan and MRI. Code range categories are identified in the readme file which is included in the zipped file.

A colonoscopy for the inpatient side does not affect the MS-DRG assignment. You will only be able to narrow it down by looking at the procedure codes. Below are the two most common reported.

ICD-9-CM procedure code 45.23, Colonoscopy

ICD-9-CM procedure code 45.25, Closed [endoscopic] biopsy of large intestine – this code includes colonoscopy with biopsy

So I write back to Medicare. Really, I ask, is this what I have to do to find out how much you pay a hospital for a basic test? Read the rest of this entry →

Preventing Child Medical Identity Theft

January 29, 2013 in health care costs, Health Insurance, Hospital Bills, Insurance Bills, Medical Care

Along with being able to talk to providers and insurance companies from an informed standpoint, you will also benefit from knowing more about how criminals work to fraudulently bill others for various items including health care services. There has been a flurry of reports about a growing practice that’s pretty disturbing, especially to new parents. It involves criminals simply using children’s identities to bill medical services and other items to credit accounts.

Doesn’t The Government Check a Consumer’s Age?

You would think that children would be safe from identity theft because of their age. But, the reality is that with the complex database systems of many governments and private businesses, it’s often possible for criminals to commit fraud by using the Social Security number and other identifying information of a minor. At the same time, many of these efforts are successful specifically because nobody else is checking the credit account for a minor. Since a child can’t usually make purchases or access his or her credit, everyone figures the accounts will be dormant. What some unlucky parents are finding out, though, is that to many government agencies and businesses, one Social Security number is as good as another, and the issue of age does not factor into many of these fraudulent accounts. In some cases, criminals who open these kind of accounts can keep using them for months or even years.

What To Do About Child Identity Theft

Much of what consumer advocates recommend in terms of deterring child identity theft is the same as what you would do to prevent adult identity theft. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: child identity theft, credit report monitoring, fraudulent medical bills, identity theft, insurance denials, medical bill crimes, medical bill help, medical bills, medical bills and identity theft, medical identity theft, prevent identity theft 2 Comments »

by Michael A. Sedano

Worked 40 years, now disabled, can’t get care – What Happened?

January 10, 2013 in health care costs, Medical Care

I have have a low back problem since 1992 when I became hurt at work. I needed a laminectomy @ L/4 L/5, I was fine for a while until my wife and I were rear-ended on the 91 frwy. in Orange County, Ca. 1997. Then my back slowly got worse. In 2003 I had a Dorsal Column Stimulator” inserted in my body, it worked for a while but in 1995 the battery died and they removed the unit. Although the Doctor removed the spinal lead implanted in T/6-T/7 area it still gives me problems to this day. I am now 57 and on permanent disabilty through (SSA).

I also started having stomach problems in 2009, serious doubled over pain like no other. I was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis and have been hospitalized 3-seperate times for this issue. The medication I need is ”creon” and there is no generic brand so it costs $380.00 per month. I am now on Medi-cal which doesn’t pay anything because the government/county program thinks I receive too much money to qualify. So I have to pay for ”ALL” my medications. Thats over $600 a month, towards a $1512 (soc) or share of cost. That’s monthly by the way. What the hell has happened to our medical in this country? I have worked 40 years and did not want to be disabled, but it happened. Now I can’t get the medical care I need.

by Deborah Gordon

The Rise of U.S. Health Care Consumers: Lessons from Abroad

January 5, 2013 in health care costs, Health Insurance, International Health Care, Medical Care, Quality of care

Can you imagine buying gas from a station with no signs to let you know the prices? Or having the clerk at a clothing store pick the “right” jeans for you, with no opportunity to figure out for yourself which ones fit best? In a sense, this is how Americans buy something far more important: health care.

Economists and policy makers have long emphasized the challenges in treating health care as a consumer good. Supply generally drives demand; there is little correlation between cost and quality; and end users have neither visibility into costs, nor much incentive to find out. Lack of price transparency makes it nearly impossible to find health care cost information even for someone motivated to look for it. Consumers also have little basis for evaluating quality; often the data that is available is dense and hard to interpret. In other words, most Americans do not have the practice or capacity, let alone the information they would need, to make informed health care decisions.

But it does not need to stay this way – and, indeed, it cannot if health care reform is to succeed. Under the Affordable Care Act, 12 million consumers are expected to purchase their own health insurance via a health insurance exchange by 2014, growing to 28 million in 2019. Americans, including lower-income individuals qualifying for subsidized health insurance, will have new health plan choices, and new means of comparison shopping. Even without reform, health insurers are designing and employers are increasingly offering products that shift costs and choices to the consumer.

Remarkably, as a nation and a health care industry, we have not prepared our population for the increased responsibility and decision-making power they will soon assume. Yet there are places around the world that have a lot to teach us in this arena, and they’re not necessarily the ones you might guess – or the ones health economists tend to focus on. Read the rest of this entry →

2 Comments »

Protect Yourself from Medical Debt Overload with Self-Advocacy

December 27, 2012 in health care costs, Health Insurance, Hospital Bills, Insurance Bills, Medical Debt

You or someone you know may be closing out the year with large amounts of medical debt even after insurance payments or what you thought were relatively minor surgeries or other procedures. In fact, you may feel like you’ve been hit by a blizzard by the sheer number of bills related to that one procedure. And they keep on coming.

One step you can do is confirm or validate the bill, especially if a lot of time has elapsed since the initial service. This simply means you want proof that you had the services rendered and do in fact owe the balance due. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit agencies are supposed to help consumers to ensure that bills are correct and fair before payment is rendered. But without good knowledge of these laws and taking the time necessary to investigate, you could end up paying much more than you owe. Here are a few other ways to stand up for yourself and your bottom line.

Keep Proof of Charges

The bad apples that pollute our debt collection environment may be operating on an entirely fraudulent basis. There have been many news stories of consumers receiving calls from phone bank operators, posing fraudulently as legitimate debt collectors. A tip off is that in many instances, the caller will fail to fully identify him/herself, their company, and the nature of the call. There are also reports that unprincipled companies are using ‘bread crumbs’ of financial data in order to manufacture phony debts that their workers demand payment for during outbound telephone calls. Collectors have been known to threaten litigation or other legal action without any legal basis as well as fail to provide written proof that a debt is owed when requested by the consumer.

One big part of your arsenal is the paper trail of charges, as well as Explanation of Benefits (or EOBs) that show whether or not the insurance company paid their fair share. Keep all of these documents on hand so that you can prove any overcharges and trigger an analysis by a credit agency.

Get Credit Bureaus In On the Action Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: collection agency, health insurer, medical bankruptcy, medical bill help, medical bills, medical debt 1 Comment »

by michael kearney

consumer perspective – cost of inguinal hernia repair surgery – First steps.

December 18, 2012 in health care costs, Member Stories

I’ll be undergoing this procedure later this week and reviewing costs is part of the process.

I understand that hernia surgery is routine. I called the hospital, surgeons office and insurance company. As I just summarized for a friend:

Hospital says $18,385. Surgeons office says $1450. Insurance company says don’t worry, the most you will pay is $5k. Why is it that I feel like the mafia is running healthcare? There is truth in all those numbers. What is the truth exactly?

I expect I will get a bill like I got for my colonoscopy. Horrifying billed cost, miraculous adjustment from insurance company but still a high bottomline relative to the rest of the country.

2 Comments »

How healthy is your state?

December 17, 2012 in health care costs, lifestyle, News

Vermont is no. 1, again, in the annual health ranking of states from the United Health Foundation. Here’s more from the foundation’s summary:

Hawaii is ranked second this year. New Hampshire is third, followed by Massachusetts and Minnesota. Mississippi and Louisiana tie for 49th as the least healthy states. Arkansas, West Virginia, and South Carolina complete the bottom 5 states.

My state, Massachusetts, is 4th overall, but 40th when it comes to binge drinking (is that because we have so many universities?) and we have a high rate of preventable hospitalizations (is this a case of supply driving demand?).

Are Transparent Hospital and Medical Bills on the Rise?

December 3, 2012 in health care costs, Hospital Bills, Insurance Bills, Medical Care

News from an Ohio media news site indicates that “hospitals around the country” are trying to make their medical bills easier to read, citing the Healthcare Financial Management Association and a case study for the Cleveland Clinic, one site that has renovated the look of its paper bills.

Most of the changes focus on the idea that traditional bills just have too many lines and lack clarity about who has current responsibility for debt amounts vs. who has already paid. To this end, photos of new billing structures show that complicated sets of line items can be replaced with headings like “You Paid X on X Date” and “Insurance Company Paid X Amount.”

Changing the format for medical bills can help both you and your provider. Because when you can read a bill effectively at a glance, you are more likely to respond immediately to what you receive in the mail. Bills that are too cryptic often just end up getting thrown in the trash or added to the pile. This means the provider receives delayed payment or non-payment and you risk credit damage.

What These Medical Bill Improvements Don’t Address

Although it can be really helpful to make bills more readable, this still doesn’t address some of the most common challenges we encounter. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: bills, costs of care, hospital bills, hospital prices, medical bill help, medical bills, out-of-network No Comments »

Medicare’s money problems in pictures

November 28, 2012 in health care costs, Medicare

Another great infographic from the Kaiser Family Foundation (published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week).

3 Comments »

What’s a “good” colonoscopy?

November 23, 2012 in health care costs, Medical Care, Quality of care

No bad jokes. I’m serious.

I’ve reached the wonderful age at which I’m supposed to have this test as part of my general health care. I had one 10 or so years ago, so I know what I’m in for. The best thing to be said is that the drugs gave me a deeply restful nap.

The first time, I went wherever my doctor told me to go. This time, I have a couple of references from my doctor, but I’m going to ask some more questions before I decide whom will perform the delicate procedure.

I’ve talked to a few docs and looked at some websites. Here’s my list of questions. Is there anything I should add?

1) About the prep – what will give me the best cleaning out with the least discomfort? There’s no point in going through all this if the doc can’t see what s/he is doing.

2) What’s the doctor’s detection rate? One medical society (the American Society for Gastrointestinal

Borrowed from Asian Scientist where study found that 30% of colonoscopy patients had polyps.

Endoscopy) says a doctor should find a polyp in 25% of men and 15% of women (why the difference?), but I know that some physician groups around Boston say the average is 40-50% among docs who really look for polyps.

3) How much time does the doctor spend, on average, on the test? I think more is better, is that right?

4) Does the doctor always get to the end of the colon? OK, I may not be able to ask this. Read the rest of this entry →

14 Comments »

What is Being Done About Medical Billing Fraud?

November 19, 2012 in health care costs, Health Insurance, Insurance Bills, Medical Care, Member Stories

Over the last few years, healthcare insurers have been focusing on fraud detection. Their efforts have been undertaken with the cooperation of the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA). The increasing numbers of suspected fraudulent medical claims are related to the economy, legislative attempts to help the consumer and general changes in ethical behavior. Also, a real danger exists because when medical service providers and attorneys are working in cahoots with fraudsters, prescribed treatment can be unnecessary and may even cause harm to patients.

The property and casualty insurance industry is also stepping up to implement fraud control. That’s because a significant amount of healthcare fraud starts with an incident related to property casualty insurance. For example, in the New York City area, about one in five no-fault auto insurance claims appear to contain elements of fraud. In addition, as much as one in three claims appear to be inflated.

Recently the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NCIB) asked leading property/casualty insurers to participate in a project to analyze medical billing data and place it in a single database. It is hoped that the ongoing participation of these insurers on supplying data for this project will enable the industry to be aware of emerging trends regarding potential fraud around medical billing. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: costs of care, health insurer, health plan, healthcare fraud, medical billing fraud, NCIB, NHCAA No Comments »

Plan Ahead for International Travel Medical Bills

November 2, 2012 in health care costs, Health Insurance, Insurance Bills, lifestyle, Medical Care, Medicare, Member Stories

You may be closing out 2011 with a holiday trip, domestically or internationally. If you plan to leave the country, you may want to consider the following when it comes to your health:

You may not have health insurance coverage for illnesses or injuries that are treated abroad, even if you have US based medical coverage. Confirm with your benefits administrator.
Generally, Medicare does not provide coverage for hospital or medical costs incurred abroad, however, rare circumstances may be covered.
AARP can assist with obtaining foreign medical coverage and offers valuable travel tips.
US consulate personnel will help you locate health care providers and facilities and even contact family members, if necessary.
You can purchase travel insurance that covers health care needs and pays for medical evacuation if you need to be transported back to the US for treatment.

Obtaining medical treatment in another country can be expensive and a medical evacuation can cost over $50,000. Plus, you may encounter challenges with deciphering charges while abroad. Be vigilant, prepared, and follow the same self-advocacy steps you would while receiving medical care in your home state.

If you choose to purchase medical expense coverage while travelling abroad, double check you’ve carefully researched the following:

Trip cancellation clauses or reasons. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: international travel, international travel preparation, medical bills, medical evacuation, medical expense, medical treatment, travel insurance, travel tips No Comments »