By BOB HERTZ

We Need Legal Assaults On The Greediest Providers!

When a patient is hospitalized, or diagnosed with a deadly disease, they often have no choice about the cost of their treatment.

They are legally helpless, and vulnerable to price gouging.

We need more legal protection of patients. In some cases we need price controls.

In the final part of this series, I discuss how we need to empower patients by allowing them to challenge their medical bills in courts.

Assault Phase Four – Binding Arbitration of Medical Bills

 We must allow patients to challenge their medical bills in expanded ‘Health courts.’

Patients should be able to contest any bill over $250,  especially if they have not given ‘informed financial consent’ to the provider.

Such ‘consent’ would require that if a procedure can be scheduled in advance, it can also be quoted in advance. If the patient requests an estimate, they must be notified in writing at least seven days in advance. This would allow the patient to request a different provider, or to investigate other alternatives. If an estimate is requested but never produced, the patient has no liability. (That will shake up the providers rather quickly.)