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How Much Would a Hospital Charge for a Simple Medical Procedure

To try and answer this question, Jeanne Pinder's team called doctors and hospitals to ask what they would accept as a cash payment for simple procedures. Some people were helpful, some hung up or were rude, and some said their lawyers wouldn’t let them divulge the information. In cases when they did get a response, the costs were staggeringly different, depending on the hospital.

Transcript

What if all US health care costs were transparent? | Jeanne Pinder ·

TED Talks Daily

More from this episode

  1. How Much Did Health Costs Consume of Gross Domestic ProductLast year, health costs ate up almost 18% of American GDP
  2. Who Were Some Nationwide Top News Groups That Revealed Medical CostsNew Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, and other places. She used the information to tell stories to people who were suffering.
  3. What Did Pinder Hear People Do to Pay Medical Bills?Some had to sell their car, go into bankruptcy, and skip a treatment-- all to pay off a medical bill. Imagine if you can afford the diagnosis, but not the cure.
  4. Will Price Transparency Solve All the Problems in Health CareIn most of the developed world, sick people don’t have to worry about money.
  5. Would Price Transparency Change Anything for Us as PatientsPinder does not know, but she states that if you don’t ask, you’ll never know— and you might save a ton of money.

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