Letter: Medical tests pushed to limit
Average prices may be 5 percent more in some areas Credit: HealthDay
In the discussions about limiting the number of tests given to patients, some important parts of the equation are not being addressed ["Selectivity can cut health costs," Editorial, April 5].
A patient only needs to look at one of his health insurer's statements to see what's going on. Doctors send the insurance companies outrageous bills for common procedures, knowing that the insurers will slash those bills to practically nothing. This gives doctors an incentive to order more tests -- to make up for the reimbursement shortfall -- rather than fewer.
Meanwhile the patient, whose co-payment costs keep rising every year, is hardly in a position to dictate to his doctor which tests he should or should not have. He wants his doctor to be his friend, not his adversary, so he quietly goes along, even though it costs him more money in the end.
Seeing how so many independent doctors' offices are being incorporated into large facilities lately, it's becoming the clash of the behemoths, with the patients caught in the middle. A new model of delivering health care has taken over the nation. The country doctor is a forgotten relic.
Frank Salerno, Oceanside
