Appendix removal: Huge sticker shock in hospital study - $1500 to $180,000 [View all]

[Liberal_in_LA]

Appendix removal: Huge sticker shock in hospital study

CHICAGO – What do hospitals charge to remove an appendix? The startling answer is that it could be the same as the price of a refrigerator — or a house.

It's a common, straightforward operation, so you might expect charges to be similar no matter where the surgery takes place. Yet a California study found huge disparities in patients' bills — $1,500 to $180,000, with an average of $33,000.

The researchers and other experts say the results aren't unique to California and illustrate a broken system.

"There's no method to the madness," said lead author Dr. Renee Hsia, an emergency room physician and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. "There's no system at all to determine what is a rational price for this condition or this procedure."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-04-23/extreme-hospital-bills-appendix/54490452/1?csp=24&kjnd=hn8IdXmqPulhBDgLQgdb6lnmZVrvdIECeG20cjChE%2F3OMaSjB8wy9WMktKm199BE-65d8153b-9555-4ebb-bc38-1a571e37ae96_QiBqV8f65GbbK6%2BQMQ1TjUFyj2cSLaAYZOqC%2FtHNz84DLw%2B3CoDpo5URaM1C%2BVyK