http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2136867,00....
In a stunning example of competence and efficiency, the US government responded to that article by publishing a ton of medicare pricing information on a hospital by hospital basis. Here's one article discussing the data:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/blogs/white-coat-note...
FWIW, as a person who has been using catastrophic insurance (e.g. super high deductible) for over a decade I find this move to more price transparency long over due. I've had the experience where some practitioners simply refused to take cash up front, it was insurance or nothing while others would give a significant discount, like over 50% for cash up front. We've still got a long, long way to go, but it's a start.
On more than one occasion after having an appointment scheduled, and mentioning to the provider that we have a high deductible, doctors' office staff have changed their stories and claim that they didn't accept our insurance or that they weren't accepting new patients (after already putting family members "into the book" for an appointment, even; one provider used one excuse after another, despite prominently advertising in the local paper that they are looking for new patients and "accept all insurance"). Another office actually claimed that the doctor had gone to lunch and wouldn't be back for 3 hours...immediately after I told her our deductible amount--her mouth dropped open and she ran back into the back and came back with the lunch story. I don't understand it, because I offered to pay up front and the care was always for simple issues that never would have hit the deductible nor broken the bank anyway (a flu in one case, a basic checkup and blood tests in another). I assume it's illegal, too, otherwise the universal response wouldn't be a stammered excuse.
This kind of behavior does help to weed out bad doctors/doctor's offices (net good, I guess?), but in a situation where your issue isn't bad/acute enough for the emergency room and not forestallable enough to wait a month to get an appointment for a good doctor, it's really frustrating.
Luckily, there's a nice urgent care locally with prices on the walls, accepts real money and even gives a cash discount, and handles the basics...but for traditional/specialist doctor's visits, I no longer offer up any information about the fact that the deductible is high and we're paying for services ourselves before the appointment.
What they did is totally cool, and more providers should post their pricing transparently. There are complicated, sensible reasons not in the current world, which I hope will change.
The government does not obviously stop them from providing pricing information about how much they charge for medicare/medicaid, hell the gov't releases that info themselves for the really big providers. It is, however, their business and I'm _sure_ they could point to some of the thousands of regulations and laws they operate under and say that it realistically prevents them from releasing pricing. It's like when people who haven't done so say they won't start a business because taxes are too high. Not false, but politically laden.
Saying that they don't take medicare/medicaid so that they provide a higher standard of care or be more successful or whatever is kind of like saying "Our private school doesn't accept kids who get reduced price lunches, so that it can operate efficiently and provide the best education."
It's not _lying_ so much as blatantly spinning it. This just feels like when you see a tech site re-run a breathless press release verbatim. It's not _false_, but it's not exactly fair to readers, either.
Medicare very likely does not allow for the prices featured on their online price menu. You could therefore say that it "won't allow for their online price menu" since without the underlying prices, there can be no menu.
I agree that as written, the statement is misleading and feels politically motivated. No way to know if the spin was applied by the doctor or the journalist.
