#1 ·
I’m getting my eyes checked soon, looks like I might finally get my first
and then I stumbled upon this:
"Major hospital tests can take up to six months
The wait times for screenings are mostly due to a shortage of diagnostic equipment.
If you want to check your health in America, you'll either be waiting months for an appointment at a public facility or dropping thousands of dollars to get it done in a week or two at a private clinic. For standard patients looking for specialized testing at hospitals or community clinics, wait times range from ten days to half a year—unless it's an emergency, in which case you're seen immediately.
'Wait until after New Year's,' is what we were told when asking about MRI availability—according to our research, it's the procedure with the longest backlog. An MRI for a spinal scan is also one of the most expensive tests; at a private facility, it will cost you $0.53, which is roughly what it costs in a hospital setting too. If you have a referral, you only pay 15 percent of that amount.
The quickest results come from blood or urine work—you can usually get it done in a day, and results are ready by tomorrow at the latest. That’s really the only type of testing where using a local clinic actually makes sense time-wise.
Most hospitals performing advanced diagnostics claim the long delays stem from a lack of machinery. They say new equipment can only be acquired through donations because the costs are so high, while the Department of Health and Human Services suggests the budget is still being tightened.
'Based on the total healthcare budget, following EU guidelines, we should have been able to spend 4.5 percent more, yet we've spent much more than that,' recently warned Secretary Andrew Hebrang.
According to him, financial analysis shows that compared to the first quarter of 2003, drug costs rose by 15.6 percent, medical supplies by 13.7 percent, and capital investments by 49.9 percent. Basic insurance costs went up 12.4 percent, or 791 million dollars, while supplemental insurance jumped 97 percent, or 77.3 million dollars. Meanwhile, all hospitals exceeded their budgets by an average of 39 percent, with some ranging from 8 to 53 percent.
The most expensive scans are linked to spinal diagnoses.
In short, wait times aren't going down anytime soon, and there's a good chance they'll try to balance the budget by hiking out-of-pocket costs.
As part of healthcare savings, supplemental coverage was scrapped—the plan that allowed you to pay a small monthly fee to waive most copays and get one free annual physical.
To help you navigate this sea of options, we've listed the prices for most major tests, how long you can expect to wait, the cost with a referral (your copay), the price without a referral in a hospital, and what private clinics charge. Since we gathered these prices and wait times by posing as patients to ensure accuracy, there might be slight variations. Wait times also vary depending on the hospital and the city.
For blood work, prices are listed in order as Private / Hospital / With Referral: a glucose test is $12 / $10 / $7.22, total cholesterol is $12 / $8.35 / $2.00, kidney or creatinine testing is $12 / $10 / $7.22, iron is — / $26.74 / $16.84, liver enzyme panels (GPT, GOT, and gamma GT combined) are $45 / $33 / $8.25, and a complete blood count is $60 / $97.39 / $23.
Blood tests are worth doing via referral at local clinics, and urine tests are especially affordable there. A private urine analysis or culture costs $200, while it's $113 in a hospital, or $5.75 with a referral.
There is a massive price gap for fecal occult blood tests, which cost $100 privately but only $8.35 in a hospital, or $2.00 with a referral. An abdominal ultrasound, depending on the organ, ranges from $200 to $133 privately, and from $150 to...$67. With a referral, you only pay 15 percent of the cost.
A gastroscopy—checking your stomach—usually runs about $67 everywhere, but if you have a referral, it’s just 15 percent of that. If you need a biopsy included, the price can triple. It’s an uncomfortable procedure because they slide a tube down your throat, and waiting three to four months makes it even worse. That’s nothing compared to a colonoscopy, where they slide a similar tube through the rectum. For that one, you wait half as long at a public hospital, and it costs roughly $25 at a private clinic or $22 in a hospital setting. With a referral, you pay 15 percent.
Waiting for a color Doppler vascular ultrasound at public hospitals usually takes a week or two.
You shouldn't cut corners with your health. But if you just need a basic EKG for a heart check, you can save money by going to a hospital where there isn't a huge wait. A private EKG costs $50, while here it's $8.25, or just $0.25 with a referral. You'll get the results in seven to ten days. Seeing a cardiologist at a hospital involves at least a two-week wait and costs about $2.70, whereas a private specialist charges $50. A color Doppler ultrasound costs $9.50 with a week or two of waiting, while the private version goes for $133.
For a gynecological exam at a hospital, expect to wait a week to a month. It costs about $50 everywhere, and $3.25 with a referral. Only after that do you get a Pap smear, where hospital results take up to a month and cost around $33 or 15 percent with a referral, while private clinics charge between $4 and $67. Waiting for a breast ultrasound can take up to four months, costing $5.50 or $0.27 with a referral. At a private clinic, it’ll be $127. Even longer—up to six months—is the wait for a mammogram, which costs $35 or $0.34 with a referral, compared to over $133 privately.
At public hospitals, you might wait up to 6 months for a mammogram or breast exam.
Eye exams and ENT appointments are worth doing at a hospital since you can get in almost immediately, and they cost about $2.65 or $3.50. In private practice, they run about $4.35, or $100.
For a chest X-ray, you're looking at a week until the appointment and another week for the results. It costs $30 or 15 percent with a referral. Private clinics charge $83.
The only exam that's actually cheaper privately is a spinal X-ray, priced at $83. At a place like Mayo Clinic, you might wait several months and pay $117, though with a referral it's only $0.15.
Thyroid hormone tests (there are three of them) cost about $2.70 or $0.40 with a referral, while private labs charge $23. A urology exam costs about $2.70 or $3.50 at a hospital, and $6.75 privately. An andrology exam with a prostate ultrasound is $10.80 or $0.27 at a hospital, and $127 privately. A head CT ranges from $21.60 to $0.33, and with a referral, you pay 15 percent.
and then I stumbled upon this:
"Major hospital tests can take up to six months
The wait times for screenings are mostly due to a shortage of diagnostic equipment.
If you want to check your health in America, you'll either be waiting months for an appointment at a public facility or dropping thousands of dollars to get it done in a week or two at a private clinic. For standard patients looking for specialized testing at hospitals or community clinics, wait times range from ten days to half a year—unless it's an emergency, in which case you're seen immediately.
'Wait until after New Year's,' is what we were told when asking about MRI availability—according to our research, it's the procedure with the longest backlog. An MRI for a spinal scan is also one of the most expensive tests; at a private facility, it will cost you $0.53, which is roughly what it costs in a hospital setting too. If you have a referral, you only pay 15 percent of that amount.
The quickest results come from blood or urine work—you can usually get it done in a day, and results are ready by tomorrow at the latest. That’s really the only type of testing where using a local clinic actually makes sense time-wise.
Most hospitals performing advanced diagnostics claim the long delays stem from a lack of machinery. They say new equipment can only be acquired through donations because the costs are so high, while the Department of Health and Human Services suggests the budget is still being tightened.
'Based on the total healthcare budget, following EU guidelines, we should have been able to spend 4.5 percent more, yet we've spent much more than that,' recently warned Secretary Andrew Hebrang.
According to him, financial analysis shows that compared to the first quarter of 2003, drug costs rose by 15.6 percent, medical supplies by 13.7 percent, and capital investments by 49.9 percent. Basic insurance costs went up 12.4 percent, or 791 million dollars, while supplemental insurance jumped 97 percent, or 77.3 million dollars. Meanwhile, all hospitals exceeded their budgets by an average of 39 percent, with some ranging from 8 to 53 percent.
The most expensive scans are linked to spinal diagnoses.
In short, wait times aren't going down anytime soon, and there's a good chance they'll try to balance the budget by hiking out-of-pocket costs.
As part of healthcare savings, supplemental coverage was scrapped—the plan that allowed you to pay a small monthly fee to waive most copays and get one free annual physical.
To help you navigate this sea of options, we've listed the prices for most major tests, how long you can expect to wait, the cost with a referral (your copay), the price without a referral in a hospital, and what private clinics charge. Since we gathered these prices and wait times by posing as patients to ensure accuracy, there might be slight variations. Wait times also vary depending on the hospital and the city.
For blood work, prices are listed in order as Private / Hospital / With Referral: a glucose test is $12 / $10 / $7.22, total cholesterol is $12 / $8.35 / $2.00, kidney or creatinine testing is $12 / $10 / $7.22, iron is — / $26.74 / $16.84, liver enzyme panels (GPT, GOT, and gamma GT combined) are $45 / $33 / $8.25, and a complete blood count is $60 / $97.39 / $23.
Blood tests are worth doing via referral at local clinics, and urine tests are especially affordable there. A private urine analysis or culture costs $200, while it's $113 in a hospital, or $5.75 with a referral.
There is a massive price gap for fecal occult blood tests, which cost $100 privately but only $8.35 in a hospital, or $2.00 with a referral. An abdominal ultrasound, depending on the organ, ranges from $200 to $133 privately, and from $150 to...$67. With a referral, you only pay 15 percent of the cost.
A gastroscopy—checking your stomach—usually runs about $67 everywhere, but if you have a referral, it’s just 15 percent of that. If you need a biopsy included, the price can triple. It’s an uncomfortable procedure because they slide a tube down your throat, and waiting three to four months makes it even worse. That’s nothing compared to a colonoscopy, where they slide a similar tube through the rectum. For that one, you wait half as long at a public hospital, and it costs roughly $25 at a private clinic or $22 in a hospital setting. With a referral, you pay 15 percent.
Waiting for a color Doppler vascular ultrasound at public hospitals usually takes a week or two.
You shouldn't cut corners with your health. But if you just need a basic EKG for a heart check, you can save money by going to a hospital where there isn't a huge wait. A private EKG costs $50, while here it's $8.25, or just $0.25 with a referral. You'll get the results in seven to ten days. Seeing a cardiologist at a hospital involves at least a two-week wait and costs about $2.70, whereas a private specialist charges $50. A color Doppler ultrasound costs $9.50 with a week or two of waiting, while the private version goes for $133.
For a gynecological exam at a hospital, expect to wait a week to a month. It costs about $50 everywhere, and $3.25 with a referral. Only after that do you get a Pap smear, where hospital results take up to a month and cost around $33 or 15 percent with a referral, while private clinics charge between $4 and $67. Waiting for a breast ultrasound can take up to four months, costing $5.50 or $0.27 with a referral. At a private clinic, it’ll be $127. Even longer—up to six months—is the wait for a mammogram, which costs $35 or $0.34 with a referral, compared to over $133 privately.
At public hospitals, you might wait up to 6 months for a mammogram or breast exam.
Eye exams and ENT appointments are worth doing at a hospital since you can get in almost immediately, and they cost about $2.65 or $3.50. In private practice, they run about $4.35, or $100.
For a chest X-ray, you're looking at a week until the appointment and another week for the results. It costs $30 or 15 percent with a referral. Private clinics charge $83.
The only exam that's actually cheaper privately is a spinal X-ray, priced at $83. At a place like Mayo Clinic, you might wait several months and pay $117, though with a referral it's only $0.15.
Thyroid hormone tests (there are three of them) cost about $2.70 or $0.40 with a referral, while private labs charge $23. A urology exam costs about $2.70 or $3.50 at a hospital, and $6.75 privately. An andrology exam with a prostate ultrasound is $10.80 or $0.27 at a hospital, and $127 privately. A head CT ranges from $21.60 to $0.33, and with a referral, you pay 15 percent.