Aware of 'no options,' woman dies fighting for medical coverage

[DFW]

4. In most cases, it doesn't.

You get billed for $40,000 (or more), but that is not what it cost. Billing is padded to accommodate a number of hands being held out. First, it includes extra money to be spread among insurance companies and administrators. Then there is a built-in cushion to help defray the cost of emergency care the hospital has to give but they know they will never get paid for.

I had two 3-day stays in hospitals involving operations last year, one in a top clinic in Germany, the other in Dallas. The bill for the German treatment was 9000 euros, about $11,000. The bill in Dallas was $35,000 which was "discounted" to $26,500, something I still don't understand. The care was NOT three times better in Dallas than it was in Düsseldorf, and the costs of care providing in Germany are certainly not two thirds less than they are in Texas.

At a meeting in Washington in July where this was discussed in detail, one wealthy woman told of a relative who was visiting her from South America. While in the USA, her relative had a heart attack, and required ten days' hospitalization. The bill came: $70,000. The woman called the hospital and told them she would pay it up front if they would discount the bill. The hospital told her that they did give discounts in such cases, but ONLY to insurance companies, never to individuals. Go figure.