The High Cost of Insurance-Based Primary Care
You probably have a rough idea of what an oil change costs.
If you don’t, all you’d have to do to find out is search the web or bring your vehicle into any shop to find prices listed for you to see before you have any work done. And everyone gets charged essentially the same price.
A primary care office visit is the human equivalent of your auto’s required maintenance.
And yet, in the insurance-based health care system, prices are variable and opaque. Thanks to recent federal regulations, however, more system transparency is available. Hospitals and providers are now required to post at least some of their standard charges on their websites.
We reviewed the websites of six hospital systems based in Minnesota and Iowa, and examined the standard charges for office visits of various lengths and complexity.
- Level 2: Limited or minor problem, includes exam and reviewing patient’s history
- Level 3: Low to moderate severity, includes exam and reviewing patient’s expanded history
- Level 4: Moderate to high severity, includes exam and reviewing patient’s detailed history
- Level 5: Moderate to high severity, includes exam and reviewing patient’s comprehensive history
The levels roughly correspond to your time spent in the doctor's office. Level 2 representing a 15 minute visit; Level 3, a 30 minute visit, and so on.
While the recent reforms have introduced an element of price transparency, the average patient today doesn’t find out the charge for their care until the bill arrives. Health care charges vary widely depending on your insurance coverage. And this triggers the cost spiral that we talked about in our post Why does insurance drive up health care costs?
Insurance companies set up networks of preferred providers and pay them less. To make up for the revenue lost, the hospitals raise prices for other patients, which become the new regular prices. And the cycle repeats.
It’s all because the patient isn’t really the customer—the payor is.
HELPcare Clinic provides exceptional value: your one-hour standard appointment would likely cost well over $400 in the insurance-based system. And, if you need a follow-up appointment, or timely care for an illness, there’s no extra charge for a visit that might be $150–$300 or more elsewhere.
It’s all included in your membership, along with 60+ common diagnostic tests.
To find out more about how you can save by opting out of the traditional health care system, request a free copy of our informational booklet Saving Through Membership today.
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