- Joined
- Jul 16, 2010
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- The Weirs, New Hampshire
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One of the most compelling reasons to buy health insurance is to benefit from their ability to negotiate rates. If you don't have insurance and are 'private pay', you can ASK for the same price insurance carriers pay, but the provider is under no obligation to give it to you. That's one of the BIG beefs with Medicare- Believe it or not, Medicare is NOT ALLOWED to negotiate lower prices from drug companies! Insurance carriers can negotiate, Other nations can negotiate, but not Medicare! It's one of the reasons Americans pay more for health care (by far) than ANY other country, yet 125 other countries people live longer.
Jim
Ironically, I know at our facility if someone does not have insurance we charge the Medicare rate, which is lower than most of the private insurance compnany rates or what a true private rate would be.