<p>And illegals will still have no insurance under ACA.</p>
<p>In answer to post #257–it is not true that “only” people without insurance pay inflated prices. Please read the article under discussion. Many people have insurance that is not adequate to cover the bills, especially in a crisis. Anyway, are you suggesting that it is OK to overcharge people who are uninsured or underinsured?</p>
<p>“Many people have insurance that is not adequate to cover the bills, especially in a crisis.”</p>
<p>Having inadequate insurance is the same as having no insurance in this regard. That is why there needs to be comprehensive coverage for all, imo. </p>
<p>I’m not suggesting it is OK, I am simply explaining the reason why hospitals charge so much.</p>
<p>“You pay $5 for an aspirin to compensate for the next 4 people who pay nothing because they have no insurance.”</p>
<p>Not really, you are billed for $5 but if you are insured adequately you pay nothing, medicaid pays $0.50, medicare pays pays $1.00, Insurance Co A pays $1.50, insurance company B pays $2.00 and so on. The uninsured’s bill for the whole amount goes to collections, where they will try to collect the $5.00 billed charge for the aspirin from the uninsured person.</p>
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<p>Or is it more because the hospital sets absurdly high list prices as a starting point for negotiations with insurance companies? They would not want to set their list prices any lower than the maximum that any insurance company is willing to pay. Of course, that makes price shopping hard for self-pay patients.</p>