discount" from her insurer was applied to her bill, it was still higher than what uninsured patients were charged. She is still paying off the bill four years later.My 34-year-old friend Chelsi Ross went to the emergency department of Methodist Hospital in Richardson, Texas four years ago for sudden onset of chest pain and shortness of breath. Fortunately, she was not diagnosed with any serious condition and her symptoms resolved.
Wait, you say, don’t you get a fine if you don’t purchase insurance? The answer is no, as Congress eliminated the tax penalty for not having insurance in 2019. But wait again, she only would have saved money if she didn’t have other healthcare costs that year, right? And that’s correct—if Ross had ended up needing a big surgery or having another expensive ER visit that year, her insurance would have kicked in after she met her deductible and co-pay.
Numerous policies have been proposed or even adopted at the state and federal levels in recent years to start to address the financial catastrophes that Americans have suffered from receiving healthcare. But these wouldn’t have helped Ross. For example, the federalrequired hospitals to publish pricing information online starting in January 2021, but patients in emergency situations, like Ross, don’t have the time to shop around for information to make decisions about where they should seek care.