I Went To The Accts Payable Dept Of The Hospital Yesterday To Pay My Mom's Bill's And Found This....

[felix_numinous]

22. What makes billing crazy is that services

are often contracted out in privately owned hospitals. Radiologists, labs, even ER physicians are often not employed directly by the hospital, so they can charge their own rates and bill separately. Not only does this cause billing complications, but these physicians have loyalties to their own teams and not as much say in hospital policy like they used to when they were working for the hospital. That puts more power in the hands of the hospital administration, who often are more interested in business than healthcare. This is one more way business has wormed it's way into service professions (it started in the 80s), policies that naturally benefit those at the top at the expense of everyone else.

State and government run hospitals I worked at were different, physicians were employed by the state too, and although these places had their own power structure and challenges, I saw physicians who worked their tails off for much less salary than the private sector, and actually had say in how their departments were run.

The privatization of hospitals has resulted in our current healthcare crisis, and there have been too many cuts in state hospital programs. Plus often state run student programs are much more affordable too. This all got shoved aside under Reagan, I remember it well.

Just some background, I hope it helps. Good luck settling your mother's bills, you are definitely not alone.