The Importance of Understanding the US Healthcare System
Summary: Our healthcare system is the worst in the developed world, but you can’t opt out of it. Because it affects us all, we’ll discuss the importance of understanding the US healthcare system.<br> Our guest today is here to explain how consumers can take back some control of healthcare costs. David Vivero is co-founder and CEO at <a href="https://amino.com/">Amino</a> a healthcare transparency company working to connect everyone to better, more affordable care.<br> Transparent as Molasses<br> The last word most of us would use to describe health care costs in the US is transparent. Healthcare is the only thing you buy without first knowing the price. Because there is no way to find out the price. And this is a big part of what drives the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2014/07/30/the-problem-with-health-care-cost-transparencycommentary.html">obscene cost</a> of health care;<br> What patients really need is timely, actionable and personalized information so they can shop for an MRI scan in the same way they would shop for a new car – by factoring in quality, cost and accessibility. Their informed choices would create a culture of competition across the diverse landscape of health-care providers, be they physicians, hospitals or pharmacies.<br> Meet Amino<br> Amino gives consumers the information that has been withheld from them. Amino compiles data that helps people estimate their healthcare costs and book appointments with experienced doctors. Amino’s data comes from nine billion insurance claims from nearly one million providers.<br> Not only can consumers get pricing, but they can also get information on providers and facilities like how often they do a procedure and what their rate of post-op sepsis is. It also shows the standard range for this ratings and tells you if your doctor or facility are above or below the range.<br> I made an account to try Amino out. You enter the procedure you need a price for, your location, and type of insurance. I got 126 matches in my area that do MRI’s. You can filter by distance, insurance, facility type, and hours. An abdominal MRI in my search ranges from $369-665.<br> You can enter details about your insurance coverage, and Amino will give you an out of pocket estimate. You can also follow the Yelp link to see reviews of providers and facilities.<br> Trillions with a T<br> Americans spend <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/23/heres-how-much-the-average-american-spends-on-health-care.html">$3.4 trillion</a> a year on healthcare. <a href="http://www.natlbankruptcy.com/us-medical-debt-statistics/">Medical debt</a> is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. So healthcare is absolutely a personal finance issue. For 20% of us, it’s our number one financial concern. You could do everything right, go to college, get a good job, have an <a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/importance-emergency-fund/">emergency fund,</a> pay your <a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/go/amazon-mastercard/">credit cards</a> every month, even have health insurance and still be wiped out financially with one trip to the emergency room.<br> You Better Shop Around<br> Some of us compare prices on toilet paper so when it comes to something as expensive as healthcare, why do we just blindly accept the price we’re given? I’ll speak for myself and say that I had no idea shopping around was even an option.<br> Now we know about Amino, so we don’t have that excuse. For some of us, it’s probably just laziness. I hate even calling to make a medical appointment so I’m not going to bother calling around to compare prices if I could even get the information by doing so.<br> Part of it is fear and intimidation. If you need a medical procedure, it’s not because you feel great and everything is fine. It’s because something is wrong. It could be a little something like a stress fracture in your shin,
