Have you ever wondered why there is no price comparison on medical procedures? Which doctor should I see, where should I have my procedure done? Many people ask these questions, and usually make a decision on who is best or what their friends and family experiences are. But could a simple choice of hospitals be costing you thousands of dollars?
Consider if your insurance is 80/20, meaning you pay 20% of the cost, and you need a knee replacement. Hospital A charges $15,000 for the procedure while Hospital B charges $50,000. At Hospital A, you would have a $3,000 bill, where at Hospital B you would have a $10,000 bill. That’s a huge difference for almost every family.
Well, the lovely Department of Health and Human Services that has been the focal point of things like “Obamacare” has released a list of inpatient procedures and their average billing from Medicare. For 2011, they show, on average, what a hospital “list price” for a particular procedure is, and what Medicare sends in compensation for what they consider that the procedure costs, including administrative costs.
What isn’t shown is outpatient procedures, medicine and other supplies, as well as what they bill insurance companies (which can vary based on what deals they’ve made).
I am going to attempt to compare prices on hospitals in Kansas using the information in this list. Remember, these are averages through all procedures billed to Medicare.
Let’s compare this: 293 – HEART FAILURE & SHOCK W/O CC/MCC (Meaning heart failure and shock without complications)
Top 3:
Menora Medical Center (Overland Park): $24,789.37
Wesley Medical Center (Wichita): $24,511.64
Overland Park Regional Medical Center (Overland Park): $23,192.08
Bottom 3:
Morton County Hospital (Elkhart): $4,903.36
Kansas Heart Hospital (Wichita): $5,503.77
Mercy Hospital (Moundridge): $5,541.23
Hutchinson:
Hutchinson Regional Medical Center (Hutchinson): $14,106.98
A wider used procedure: 470 – MAJOR JOINT REPLACEMENT OR REATTACHMENT OF LOWER EXTREMITY W/O MCC (Replacing hip, knee, etc without major complications)
Top 3:
Wesley Medical Center (Wichita): $77,785.20
Kansas Spine Hospital (Wichita): $77,604.94
University of Kansas Hospital (Kansas City): $66,268.44
Bottom 3:
Kansas Surgery & Recovery Center (Wichita): $23,447.27
Summit Surgical (Hutchinson): $23,996.47
South Central Kansas Medical Center (Arkansas City): $24,827.27
Hutchinson:
Hutchinson Regional Medical Center (Hutchinson): $38,235.06
And yet another procedure: 690 – KIDNEY & URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS W/O MCC (Pretty much what it says)
Top 3:
Overland Park Regional Medical Center (Overland Park): $30,375.04
Wesley Medical Center (Wichita): $25,164.18
Saint Luke’s South Hospital (Overland Park): $24,299.19
Bottom 3:
Coffey County Hospital (Burlington): $6,153.00
Morton County Hospital (Elkhart): $6,614.91
McPherson Hospital (McPherson): $7,253.83
Hutchinson:
Hutchinson Regional Medical Center (Hutchinson): $13,676.26