The data from more than 3,000 hospitals that take Medicare, the government’s health program for the elderly, showed that in some cases costs can drastically vary for hip replacements, bone fractures and treatments for kidney failure. Three hospitals in and around the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, charged an average of $97,214, $46,457 and $28,237, respectively, to treat a respiratory infection with complications, one example showed.I don't think those hospitals were expecting this.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it released the data for the first time to make the health system “more affordable and accountable.” The information adds to the scrutiny of what patients, insurers and the government pay for medical services as President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act aims to extend coverage to 27 million uninsured people.
“Hospital pricing is the craziest of crazy quilts,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of the Washington-based consumer advocacy group Families USA, in a phone interview. “People who wind up paying the highest prices are people who are uninsured and who can least afford bearing this unaffordable burden.”
Lots of spokespeople explaining how "complicated" pricing these things is.
Apparently math is hard even for accountants.
