Tribal Advocacy

Let's bust a myth. There is no such thing as a "healthcare consumer." A consumer can make informed decisions and choose where they take their business. A consumer relies on price transparency. A consumer knows what the service costs before agreeing to engage in that service. But that doesn't happen at hospitals, does it?

Therefore we not "healthcare consumers." So when it comes to healthcare, what are we?

$31,000 is the average cost, a YEAR, for the average American family.

"The cost for a hypothetical American family of four covered by an average employer-sponsored preferred provider organization (PPO) plan is now $31,065. And cost for the average person reached $7,221, shows the report using 2021 healthcare claims data projected forward to 2023."

https://zurl.co/F1jB

Healthcare Costs for Average Family Exceed $31K The latest Milliman Medical Index shows a return to pre-pandemic healthcare cost growth as the annual costs for a family exceed $31,000 this year.

Military families already deal with so much in service to their country. As we've noted before, bankruptcy due to the high cost of medical care can hit anyone and everyone.

The financial burden incurred by insanely high medical bills on Americans is pervasive. It can even impact otherwise debt-free individuals. That's how widespread this problem is.

Medical bills can quickly spiral out of control, even forcing bankruptcy—and the data show that even a college education is not enough protection.

We wish this wasn't true and yet...

Pricing matters, and you should know what you everything costs before you're sent a bill. Wisconsin is only one state. Is your state following the federal law on pricing transparency?

"Wisconsin has some of the highest prices for commercially insured patients in the country. A recent study by the RAND Corporation found employers and private insurers paid Wisconsin hospitals more than three times what would have paid for the same services, the fourth highest rate of any state in the country.

“For millions of Americans, tremendous fear comes with any medical procedure that they may be requiring. This fear comes not from the potential risk of the surgery or the medications they may be put on afterwards, but rather from the mountain of debt that will inevitably follow with almost no clue as to what the total will be," said Will Flanders, research director at Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. https://zurl.co/PdVi

Wisconsin has among the highest hospital prices in the nation. This bill seeks to help lower them through more transparency The bill largely mirrors a federal price transparency rule already in effect, but it would allow the state to enforce the rule and fine hospitals.

We all want to save as much money as we can, especially as the cost of goods keeps climbing. But that can get much harder when the bills we receive are too complex to understand or lack any degree of transparency. If you've ever tried negotiating or even trying to wade through a hospital bill, you understand the stress.

"Research in recent years has shown that while healthcare consumers indicate saving money motivates them to attempt resolving medical bill errors, most are discouraged by the complexity and lack of transparency of the healthcare financial journey. They also find it challenging to understand the intricacies of healthcare billing and high-cost bills and say that figuring out who to contact with questions and navigating the path to resolution is difficult and time-consuming." https://zurl.co/JBIR

What this article doesn't tell you is that there IS someone you can contact. We'll not only help you, we'll take over the entire process for you. Yes, it really is that simple. There's no reason to stress about saving money on medical bills. We'll take that on for you, lower your bill or even eliminate it entirely.

Council Post: It’s Time To Reduce Billing Friction For Healthcare Consumers Payers and providers can empower consumers to better navigate their healthcare financial journey.

Do you know what a "chargemaster" is? It's basically a complicated price list which changes weekly, set by each hospital for every service you, the patient, may encounter. If the thought of wading through that sounds daunting and stressful, you're not alone.

"Anyone who has ever tried to find out in advance how much a hospital test, procedure or stay will cost knows the frustration: “Nope, can’t tell you” or “It depends” are common replies from insurers and medical centers.

While more information is always welcome, the new data will fall short of providing most consumers with usable insight.

That’s because the price lists displayed this week, called chargemasters, are massive compendiums of the prices set by each hospital for every service or drug a patient might encounter. To figure out what, for example, a trip to the emergency room might cost, a patient would have to locate and piece together the price for each component of their visit — the particular blood tests, the particular medicines dispensed, the facility fee and the physician’s charge, and more."

https://zurl.co/PSPw

As Hospitals Post Sticker Prices Online, Most Patients Will Remain Befuddled The new rule took effect Jan. 1 but, for consumers seeking hospital price information, using it to find answers may be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Think about this for a second. Imagine being seated at a restaurant and not being given a menu, even when you ask for one. Imagine the server brings your drinks without ever telling you the price of those drinks or even what those drinks are. Then he delivers your appetizers, and at least one dish isn't what you ordered. After the main course, you finally get the bill. But the bill isn't itemized, it only shows a lump sum, and a frightening one at that.

Do you:

1. Pay the bill without question?
2. Ask to see a price breakdown of what item cost what and negotiate a fair and reasonable price from there?
3. Or do you leave the restaurant and insist you'll never return, telling your friends and family about the price-gouging and utter lack of transparency?

Kind of a trick question, because most likely you would've left the restaurant when the server refused to show you a menu of what the items cost. Yet the above scenario is exactly what takes place in hospitals and medical facilities in the United States. Patients aren't told how much their care will cost ahead of time. They're not given pricing transparency. They're billed for services they they didn't need, didn't ask for, or were never given. And this is all accepted as normal when it isn't normal in any other industry.

Doesn't seem reasonable, does it? We don't think so either. But until these practices change, Tribal Advocacy is here to fight the battle against unfair, too high, or completely incorrect medical billing on behalf of our members.

What is a surprise medical bill? "A surprise medical bill is an unexpected bill, often for services received from a health care provider or facility that you did not know was out-of-network until you were billed."

Do you get "surprise bills" from any other industry or just hospitals and medical providers? Think about it.

Read more about "surprise medical bills" and the new "No Surprises Act" put into effect just this year https://zurl.co/xEIB.

What is a “surprise medical bill” and what should I know about the No Surprises Act? | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau A surprise medical bill is an unexpected bill from an out-of-network provider or at an out-of-network facility. Effective January 1, 2022, the No Surprises Act may protect you from surprise medical bills under certain circumstances.

Yet another unsurprising new study has found that a growing number of people avoided medical care due to high costs, with women, Black Americans and young adults being the most likely to avoid seeking care: "Healthcare costs consistently rank as a top financial concern for numerous people…

- 27% of women say they had forgone seeing a doctor in the past 12 months, while only 22% of men said the same;

- 35% of Black Americans say they put off seeing a doctor in the past 12 months, compared to 22% of White Americans and 29% of Hispanic Americans;

- 38% of those aged 18-24 and 34% of those aged 25-34 say they avoided seeing a doctor in the past 12 months. This represents a stark contrast between young adults and those 55 years or older, of whom only 14% put off obtaining medical care from a physician."

https://zurl.co/y8Bc

Young U.S. Adults Avoid Seeking Medical Care at Profoundly High Rates Due to Healthcare Costs According to recent data, the U.S. spends significantly more on healthcare than most countries, but this doesn’t mean the nation has better healthcare results. It is estimated that spending on healthcare in 2021 reached a whopping $4.3 trillion, averaging $12,900 per person. In comparison, other p...