【美国医院急诊高收费的秘密】李永明博士。纽约中医论坛
2017/6/2 纽约TCM论坛

    

    

     (图片来自网上)

     据JAMA内科杂志2017年5月30日发表的一篇调查揭示，美国医院急诊收费标准差异巨大，通常对无保险自费患者加价4倍左右。研究者调查了3千6百多家医院的1万2千多急诊医生和5万7千多内科医生的收费资料，得出上述结论。

     研究者使用了美国老人医疗保险(Medicare)的付费标准作为参考，发现Medicare付$100的急诊服务，在有的医院收费可高达$1260。医生读心电图的诊断费用，Medicare付$34，而急诊室收$96。医院通常对自费患者、保险网络外患者、或患者的自费部分使用这种高收费的标准，而盈利医院比非盈利医院更糟。研究者指出，美国目前只有纽约等少数卅有限制医院乱收费的法律。

     这调查揭示了美国医院急诊医疗“敛财”的秘密：乘人之危，抢劫中产阶级。因为真正的穷人看急诊是不用付账的，而富人是极少数。也可能，“杀富济贫”是美国医院用来维持公平和人道的急诊医疗的一种方法。其实，这种收费差异并不仅限于急诊。因为美国医院通常是先看病，后寄账单，所以，患者面对护士和医生的微笑，请不要忘记先搞清谁来买单。(李永明)

     Hospitals Often Charge Uninsured ED Patients Four Times More Than Medicare Patients, Study Suggests

     Reuters (5/30, Emery) reports “hospitals typically charge uninsured emergency” 了department “patients four times what they’re willing to accept from Medicare for the same service,” according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers also found that for-profit hospitals tended to charge patients more than non-profit hospitals, and hospitals tended to charge more when many of their patients were uninsured.

     The new study found, for example, that for a $100 treatment in the emergency room, some hospitals were charging patients up to $1,260. The study examined charges by 12,337 emergency medicine physicians and 57,607 internal medicine physicians based in the same 3,669 hospitals. Charges for services performed in the emergency room were typically 4.2 times higher, with some hospitals charging 12.6 times more. When Medicare was paying $34 to read that electrocardiogram, hospitals typically charged patients $62 if it was read by an internal medicine physician and $96 if it was read by an emergency department physician.

    

    

    

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