Mike Killingsworth: Hospitals are gouging the un-insured, despite their numbers
Re “2 regional hospitals have some of the nation’s highest markups” (Page A1, June 10): Why are our health care costs rising? Is it really the Affordable Care Act? Your article about hospitals gouging the uninsured gives us a glance at the immoral behavior of some local and national hospitals. I have heard stories about hospitals charging enormous amounts for one pain pill. And the article points out that for-profit health care providers appear to be far better at it.
Why would hospital bills be so difficult to decipher? Because it helps prevent customers from being confident about challenging them. All of these practices increase costs of health and other insurances. When I go to a certain chain clothing store and buy items “on sale” and I am told “You saved $110 dollars today” on the purchase of two pair of pants, a shirt and a pair of shoes, I think “yeah right.” When a pair of summer shorts is priced as $45 and I end up paying $26, I know the original price was inflated.
Hospitals that gouge the uninsured are not going to admit they do, they are going to throw out some smoke-screen numbers regarding uncompensated care, discounts, etc. so that they can say, “You saved $3,286 during your stay.”
Mike Killingsworth, Manteca
This story was originally published June 17, 2015 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Mike Killingsworth: Hospitals are gouging the un-insured, despite their numbers."