From: remailer@reece.net.au   
      
   Had an MRI and am looking at the insurance statement.   
      
   Hospital billed $2134 (Self-pay price)   
   Insurance allowed $835 (Settlement-in-full per contractual   
   agreement)   
   Medicaid allowance about $367 per Google search   
      
   Similar pattern for the reading and report.   
      
   So what's going on here? Cash is supposed to get you the best   
   price in the business world, not the worst. If you ask, a care-   
   giver (care-seller) will typically say this: The fair price for   
   this MRI is maybe $1200, but he is "forced" to accept discounted   
   reimbursements by the State and Insurance Companies, so he has   
   to make up the difference by socking it to uninsured saps who   
   have no other choice but to pay, or skip.   
      
   No matter what the twisted reasoning, this ripoff has been going   
   on for decades and is ripe for a multibillion dollar class-   
   action. If what the medical business does is legal, what would   
   stop Wal-Mart from sizing customers up when they walk in and   
   start charging Doctors triple for a loaf of bread? How far do   
   you think that will get before the same goniffs scream bloody   
   murder for the bunko squad. The price of a loaf of bread should   
   be the same for all-comers. The lowest price for which the care-   
   seller accepts as payment-in-full should establish the price for   
   all. In the cas of my MRI, $367.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)