Comments on: What Health Reformers Could Learn from the Market for Cosmetic Surgery

By: Knowing the Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing | John Goodman | NCPA

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:31:44 +0000

[...] No. 1: Whenever patients pay with their own money, prices are always transparent. Cosmetic surgery, LASIK surgery, walk-in clinics in shopping malls — they all post prices. And in the medical [...]

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:08:05 +0000

The problem with tradtional (covered by insurance) providers is that they are not competing for patients based on price. Since they are not competing on price, prices have no meaning for patients. In fact in a real sense, the fees they receive are not prices at all.

What is more directly comparable to primary care delivered by MDs is the walkin clinic. They post their prices (just like cosmetic surgeons) because they are competing on price. And beause they compete on price, they compete on quality (value of the patients time) as well.

By: artk

artk — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:47:45 +0000

Interesting web site, but still not consumer focused. They charge $25.00 every time you want to price a service. If you want pricing transparency, this isn’t it. The entire system thrives on secret pricing and price discrimination. If you think that Medicare gets a discount relative to what an insurance company pays, you should see how much more a private payer is charged relative to an insurance company.

You want a simple reform, require every provider to list what they charge for every procedure to each payer. Make the confidentiality clauses in insurance company’s contracts with providers illegal so you can see what insurance companies actually pay for a given procedure.

By: ralph

ralph — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:06:01 +0000

This does exist for other medical procedures at http://www.MediBid.com, and it in operation today

By: artk

artk — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:03:03 +0000

The only connection that cosmetic surgery has to health care is that an MD provides the service. It has as much connection to health care as a clothing store that has a doctor as an investor. It’s almost completely optional; it never saves or extends your life. Almost none of it is reconstructive; it tends to be completely cosmetic.

By: Stephen C.

Stephen C. — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:09:04 +0000

I think Obama should spend more time reading this blog.

By: Dean Clancy

Dean Clancy — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:28:00 +0000

Great post. I could stand a nose job.

PS – I think you meant “adjoining,” not “adjourning.”

By: Bart

Bart — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:52:30 +0000

Obama: “I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on…”

I think this was the most encouraging remark of the entire debacle. I only wish it were directed at the entire collection of Demo and GOP health proposals, and not just to “the package.”

By: Larry C.

Larry C. — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:49:59 +0000

This is really quite remarkable. Complete transparency without any threats from government or any federal pilot program or any jawboning. Just people pursuing their own self interest.

By: Tom H.

Tom H. — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:34:24 +0000

Imagine what the entire health care system would look like without the third party payer bureaucracies. We would have transparency. Price competition. Quality competition. And the patient would be treated like the real consumer, instead of insurance companies, employers and government.