By Robert Nelson WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Medical Cost Advocate is in the news. This time CEO, Derek Fitteron talks with a reporter from the World Herald about consumer medical liabilities. Read on to learn how Medical Cost Advocate can assist you in reducing some of those large medical bills.
I recently had part of my neck rebuilt with corpse bone and titanium. A week ago, the itemized bill arrived for my surgery.
At the end of page 4, I found the “sub-total of charges”:
$48,303.44.
The only charge that seemed to have any connection to any free-market reality was about $15,000 paid to the world-class spine surgeon.
Well, OK, the nurses certainly deserved to be paid well. And the room was comfortable and modern. From arrival to departure, my stay was Nebraska-friendly with German-like precision.
And I guess the fellow who managed to keep me between oblivious and oblivion during surgery should be well compensated also.
But still, outrageous.
Especially when you start digging into the “smaller” charges.
I paid $369 for what must have been a very special dose of vitamin D. Something that covered my feet was $149.28.
I see a $16 charge for a pill I have been taking every night for several years at a cost of 8 cents per pill.
Seventy-five itemized charges.
Including $1,200 for each of six titanium screws used to bolt down two small titanium plates that cost $4,918.
Feeling disconnected from the free market, I went online, joined a medical trade organization, identified the eight pieces of medical-grade titanium alloy in my neck and then emailed one of the manufacturers of the equipment in China – Zhejiang Guangci Medical Device Co. – requesting a price quote.
I’m not a doctor, or an international importer, but I’m pretty sure my sources in China could get me identical parts to those in my neck for under $50.
It’s apples to oranges for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which are the huge costs of making sure safe objects are put in your body by the right people using the right equipment.
Still, I feel ripped off.
“A lot of what you’re seeing in that bill is you paying for all the people who can’t pay,” said Derek Fitteron, president and CEO of Medical Cost Advocate localhost/wp1, a New Jersey-based company made up of health care attorneys who negotiate with providers to lower the bills of patients they represent.
“Most of the problem really isn’t greed,” he said. “You’ve got a host of reasons that drive even those providers with only good intentions to give you bills that look outrageous.
“You might notice that some of those numbers that seem outrageous to you are even a negotiated price that your insurer has agreed to.
“That doesn’t mean a provider isn’t going to try to make you the person who covers the extra costs they’re seeing or the debts they aren’t getting paid,” he said.
His company makes its money because his staffers know the wholesale prices and going rates for all things medical.
His people argue with the provider. Then, like an attorney who wins a settlement for a client, his company takes a percentage of the money it saved the client.
Fitteron said that controlling outlandish medical costs ultimately is up to the consumer. You need to study the details of your health coverage. You also need to discuss with the provider the costs of a procedure prior to having the work done, he said.
“It’s the old adage: Five different people walk into the hospital with the same problem, and all of them pay vastly different amounts to get the problem fixed,” he said. “You have to be a smart and savvy shopper to be the one who pays less.”
Less? I asked. Seems like the wrong word choice considering the huge numbers.
“That’s a relative term,” he said. “That’s ‘less’ of an increasingly huge amount of money.”
