I hesitate to write this. Honestly, the health care debate has not caught my daily interest. What I have noticed is that some folks are really opinionated about these issues. All I want to point out in this quick post is a personal story that might shed some light on where some of the wasteful health care costs go.
To me. Here is how it happened.
About eight years ago we had two children, a toddler and a new born, and we lived in Wheaton, Illinois. At some point in our two-year stay while I was attending graduate school, we overpaid for one or more visits to the pediatrician. In all we paid $71.12 more than we should have. Now, nearly a decade later, the "Front Desk/Patient Accounts/Medical Records Supervisor" has sent us a hand-signed letter and a reimbursement check.
Pure speculation here: What do you think that $71.12 actually cost? Can you imagine how many paid people were involved in tracking down that inconsistency? Can you imagine how much processing of paperwork and seeking of approvals had to take place once the audit was complete and the reimbursement put into motion, eight years later? It wouldn't surprise me of my $72.12 check cost Wheaton Pediatrics $10,000.
Especially if the records system changed from paper- to computer-based. Can I make your story a block-quote on my blog, brandonsmith.com, if I attribute it to you? It may draw a few more curious and like-minded people to your site.
Posted by: Brandon Smith | October 31, 2009 at 09:46 PM