As my 2 devoted readers know, I recently had ACL surgery. Here is a comparison of the list price for the procedures and the price negotiated by my insurance:
surgeon’s charge:
4,520 vs 1,457
surgery center’s charge:
8,029 vs 1,555
anesthesiologist charge:
2,250 vs 794
Total list price: $14,799
Negotiated price: $ 3,806
I wonder what price I’d be able to negotiate for these services as my own agent. Can you actually book an ACL surgery for $3,806 on your own? If you don’t have health insurance, $11,000 is a big difference.
There are other necessary steps to replace your ACL: pre-op and post-op office visits, and lots of physical therapy. I only put up what it costs to have the actual surgery. Also, the final amount is the amount charged. My plan is (thank goodness) pretty good, so it covered most of it. If I’m ever self-employed I’d probably get a high-deductible catastrophic plan, and thus be on the hook for the full $3,806. Of course, with such a plan I’d also pay lower premiums.
In other news, I’m trying to make the blog a little more personal, since so many other political blogs do a much better job of indundating the world with libertarian propaganda (the propaganda will continue, just much less of it). I’m going to continue posting short little links as well, since I also use this blog as a searchable bookmark index.