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Is having Insurance to "Cover" my routine labs and imaging beneficial to me?
Is cost of labs cheaper with insurance? Not usually when you actually look at the entire picture.
You are getting it at a negotiated price between the service and your insurance. This of course will benefit all parties involved except the patient.
According to Cura4U OneStepHealthcare, Complete Blood Count "price can vary from anywhere between $10.00 to $2,700, depending upon the kind of insurance an individual has."
This is a perfect example of a negotiated price that is NOT pro-patient.
Does cost of imaging cheaper with insurance? NO
Just like labs, you are getting it at a negotiated price between the service and your insurance.
In addition, since most individuals do not get an MRI every year, when you actually need that MRI, you will end up paying the insurance negotiated price to meet your deductible.
Since an average deductible is about $2500, you will end up paying the entire $2500 for that one MRI with insurance.
Now, according to Diagnostic Imaging, the same knee MRI is $500 in the Northeast US.
This is a another perfect example of a negotiated price that is NOT pro-patient.
No having Insurance to "Cover" my routine labs and imaging is NOT beneficial to me!
Insurance gave me a false sense of security that everything was "covered."
When I actually needed labs and imaging, I still paid out of pocket because I had to meet my deductable.
What having insurance did for me was that it "lulled" me not to ask two simple questions:
1. Do I need this?
2. How much does it cost?
I, as a consumer of healthcare, was unaware of the actual cost since everything was "covered."
Thus, free-market in healthcare was not kept in check!
Nephrology
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