But there's something less obvious, that's worth understanding a bit better: insurers do not have strong incentives to negotiate well on behalf of members.
A thread (1/8)
Her friend paid cash and was billed $199.
nytimes.com/2020/06/29/ups…
(2/8)
Most of the difference doesn't come from the actual price of the COVID Test. It comes from the ER tacking on a bunch of *other* tests just for the patient with insurance.(3/8)
You can't do that to a patient paying cash. You tell them you're going to run a Legionnaire's test alongside COVID and they probably walk (or run!) away (4/8)
They are managing a ton of claims. It is annoying for them to deal with complaints from members (ie "Why won't you cover this COVID test bill?"). It takes work to adjudicate what care is and isn't needed. (5/8)
healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.13…
That, I think, is the backstory to how you end up with $6,408 coronavirus tests (8/8)