This is a link to Steven Brill's article in the current Time Magazine. Perhaps it will explain to our European cousins why we are so fucked up over here with medical care.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bi...ling-us/2/
All of this leads to obscene profits by allegedly "non-profit" medical corporations. As always - in any crime, follow the money.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bi...ling-us/2/
Quote:Every time a nurse drew blood, a “ROUTINE VENIPUNCTURE” charge of $36.00 appeared, accompanied by charges of $23 to $78 for each of a dozen or more lab analyses performed on the blood sample. In all, the charges for blood and other lab tests done on Recchi amounted to more than $15,000. Had Recchi been old enough for Medicare, MD Anderson would have been paid a few hundred dollars for all those tests. By law, Medicare’s payments approximate a hospital’s cost of providing a service, including overhead, equipment and salaries.
All of this leads to obscene profits by allegedly "non-profit" medical corporations. As always - in any crime, follow the money.