What's the true cost of health care?

One of my frustrations with health care is: How much does it really cost? And what is its fair price? Have you even been in a store or a restaurant where prices were not displayed? More likely than not, you would walk out, as displayed pricing is as American as apple pie.

We depend on pricing information to make informed decisions. Somewhere along the way, upfront pricing in the health field went stealth. You see it in the insurance paperwork after the fact and gasp at how that simple blood test cost $100 or that 5 minute visit from the doctor when you were in the hospital was billed out for $200.

The insurance company somehow discounts it and hopefully the uncovered portion you must pay is minimal. And if you don't have insurance, you pay 100 percent. The health care debate is wrongly focused on how to pay the bill rather than why the bill does not reflect the economic reality of the value of the medical goods or service delivered. Like shopping at most retail stores, the price you pay after the markdowns still leaves the store plenty of profit. The original price was phony all along.

So it is with health care. The "price" of a 10-day hospital stay is more than some people make in a year. If hospital and doctor service prices were posted in clear view upfront and each of us had to pay it out of our wallets, most hospitals would be empty and people would probably take better care of themselves.

So what's it really cost and what is the fair price? Why such a large gap between what is billed and what the insurance company pays in the end? Only after they nail down the problem, will they hammer out the right solution.

Larry Grogan

Glendale Heights