Hey billing geeks, I have had this idea to compare US prices to the ones listed in the German GOÄ, which is the central price catalog negotiated with German health insurers. It is binding for German doctors participating in the public healthcare system (Kassenärzte; Kasse = insurance carrier). This is somewhat analogous to medicare pricing I believe.<p>If this were at all possible, and I don't have high hopes looking at the obfuscation in the published US hospital pricing data, it would shine a light on the <i>insane</i> pricing insurers in the US get away with. Being able to quantify would allow to direct comparison, and hopefully convince some people to vote for the right party to change the greed and human suffering we currently have to put up with.<p>Edit: Here a PDF of the GOÄ [0]. It has multiple pricing as well, which is used when a private insurance carrier pays. Private insurance can be used as well, giving preferred access and treatment.<p>[0]<a href="https://www.pvs-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/redakteure/pvs-bremen/dokumente/GOAE.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.pvs-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/redakteure/p...</a>
Related: I'd love an app or web site that lets me type in a medical procedure needed by someone close to me. After an AI chat conversation where I clarify the procedure and list any possible complications I'm aware of, the app would use databases (such as the database linked to this thread) to give me a list of estimated pricing nearby (and far away, if the prices are high.) All estimates would give a range (for example, $3500 +/- $1500.)<p>Does such a thing exist? It seems possible with 2023 tech, although it probably needs to know health insurance details to do its job well. I think millions of US citizens would subscribe.
If you just want to see the prices with the things, this is a more abbreviated query:<p>SELECT `hospital_id`, `row_id`, `line_type`, `description`, `payer_category`, `payer_name`, `standard_charge` FROM `rate`<p>Adding an 'order by' clause makes the query time out.<p>"CC" in many of the descriptions seems to mean "complications and comorbidity". "MCC" is Major Complication or Comorbidity. Some other abbreviations can be looked up here: <a href="https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/professional-issues/documentation-in-health-care/common-medical-abbreviations/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/professional-issues/doc...</a>
If you are curious to compare with a foreign single payer system, England's NHS tariff is published at<p><a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/pay-syst/national-tariff/national-tariff-payment-system/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.england.nhs.uk/pay-syst/national-tariff/national...</a>
Is the data US only? I wonder if there is a global version? On quick glance didn't find the provenance of the data. Would you mind sharing how the data is collected? I'm working with an asian insurer to bring price transparency to the public. If there is a trustable global database would benefit the world hugely. There are, for example, non urgent medical procedures that people can undergo in different countries
I'm not super familiar with Dolt's SQL implementation, but I'm surprised that a simple `count(*)` query timed out:<p><a href="https://www.dolthub.com/repositories/dolthub/transparency-in-pricing/query/main?active=Tables&q=SELECT+COUNT%28*%29%0AFROM+%60rate%60%3B%0A" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.dolthub.com/repositories/dolthub/transparency-in...</a>
I think it's important that people around the world can see this, know that we suffer, and feel proud of their own countries' health systems.
Some timeouts filtering by hospital for me:<p>'SELECT * FROM `rate` where hospital_id = "XXXXXX" ORDER BY `hospital_id` ASC, `row_id` ASC LIMIT 200;'
This is awesome. As someone who lives in the U.S, had a heart attack (double bypass), and a week hospital stay...I want to see if $298,000 was the right price.
It doesn't matter how much it costs because there is no such thing in America as informed consumer consent. If you're unconscious, they will treat you, bill you, and you become liable for an arbitrary debt. The Founding Fathers revolted for this type of arbitrary taxation but too many modern Americans are too docile and accepting of mistreatment and exploitation.<p>I met a woman in a coffee shop in Redding CA who was about to defend her home, clothing, and means of transportation from creditors who forced her into bankruptcy while she was dying of stage IV cancer. This is the state of healthcare as a business first in America.
A friend just went to hospital in Queensland, Aus with pain in his hand.<p>The booked him in to stay the night and did surgery the next day and he stayed for two more days then went home.<p>Without a bill.<p>Thank goodness for Australia's healthcare system. It's far from perfect, but when it works, it really works well.