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Originally Posted by dellinger63
So an office visit with lab work IS cheaper than their co-pay? Really? Do these ho-dunks take their, still under warranty, vehicles to the local mechanic cause he charges less than the dealer will charge the manufacturer as well?
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No, didn't mean that. I said that "healthcare" for routine stuff becomes cheaper in this type of practice setup. If the doc wants a CBC-chemistry, it may be $48 this way (drawn in-house, sent out to lab, results faxed back to doc), but $88 if you drive to the hospital lab, have the blood drawn, they run it, they send results to doctor - and the hospital has to process your insurance paperwork to get reimbursement).
Not using insurance companies for the routine stuff, taking that out of the equation, saves alot of money all throughout the system. You are eliminating all the markup necessitated by an insurance company and the requisite paperwork pushers being in the middle of it all.
Many doctors nowadays give noticable discounts to patients that are willing to pay $120 cash for an office visit and followup labwork; than to pay the $30 co-pay and process that through an insurance company.