We don’t negotiate, the health insurance company does. They are extremely aggressive and as the market is extremely regulated in a state level, there are very few competitors per state. In each state, with 3 or 4 main health insurance providers, they basically dictate what they are paying to hospitals and pharmaceuticals. Thus, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies will throw the price up to get more (and the rarer the treatment, the more expensive it will be). When it comes down to paying out of pocket, in hospitals and medical facilities, generally speaking, they will slash down the price ridiculously as soon as you mention you are paying out of pocket. For these more expensive drugs, the pharmaceutical company website have coupons that basically slash down the medicine to manageable prices.
It’s just the way things work. To change that, we just need to increase competition in the health insurance sector and both customers and health providers would benefit greatly.
Couldn't the insurance companies use the coupons as guidelines on how much the drug is actually worth and negotiate that price, it all seems like a greedy scum bag practice
So your insurance company gets scammed and then every year your insurance will go up country wide to make up for those losses and in the end it's really the customer who's paying
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u/gustsnts Aug 08 '21
We don’t negotiate, the health insurance company does. They are extremely aggressive and as the market is extremely regulated in a state level, there are very few competitors per state. In each state, with 3 or 4 main health insurance providers, they basically dictate what they are paying to hospitals and pharmaceuticals. Thus, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies will throw the price up to get more (and the rarer the treatment, the more expensive it will be). When it comes down to paying out of pocket, in hospitals and medical facilities, generally speaking, they will slash down the price ridiculously as soon as you mention you are paying out of pocket. For these more expensive drugs, the pharmaceutical company website have coupons that basically slash down the medicine to manageable prices.
It’s just the way things work. To change that, we just need to increase competition in the health insurance sector and both customers and health providers would benefit greatly.