And by the way, contractural write offs cannot be deducted by any small business, whether it be a doctor, dentist, attorney, or anyone else. System is broke, but it ain't THAT broke. There are some tricks that can be used by "Not For Profit" healthcare providers who use accrual basis accounting rather than cash accounting, however. And don't get me started on carried interest.......
Yolk, thank you for dispelling that rumor/myth/tale although, does "small business" come into play at all on that?
Being a licensed insurance rep for over 28 years (although health insurance not being my forte) you can imagine the "flak" I've caught over high premiums on all lines of insurance and of late, the high cost of health insurance premiums. And although there was a law passed several years ago stating health insurers must spend at least 80% of premiums on health care, leaving them 20% to operate on (agent's commissions on health insurance went from 20-25% to 5%. And these are averages but they were drastically cut), their responsibility lies in paying the medical bills they're presented.
Here's one where I have a big problem.
My dad recently had a sinus operation in which there were 3 procedures performed, all relatively minor. Yet when reviewing the bill from the hospital I saw where they charged $900 for the operating room. TIMES 3!
They billed him for 3 operating room charges at $900 each when he never left the room! So seeing this as an error I called the insurer to be sure they were aware of it and wouldn't pay it. Yet, they said they had to pay it because of the way the hospital coded it. Calling the billing dept at the hospital was useless!
To me, this is just a small portion of a very large problem that's getting passed down to us, the insured!
Our premiums are going to continue to rise as long as this type of practice continues; to charge/overcharge/inflate medical bills, and worse, allowing the insurance companies to pay these amounts without scrutiny.
I'm all for affordable health care, but it won't be affordable until these charges become legitimate!
Or is it legitimate to see an operating room charge for each procedure done when you've never left the room? Or doctors walking by, popping their head in to see how you're doing, and charging for it.
This is why I too favor 'affordable health care' on a state level, not the federal govt as I think the people would at least have a little more of a voice (yes, I'm being naive).
Being a single person I'm paying $5k a year in premiums with a $6250 deductible. So I need to dish out over $11,000 before the insurer even kicks in!
For me personally this is not affordable.
