No. of Recommendations: 0
It doesn't matter that the amount is set by the insurance company contract or Medicare or the EU country's Health Ministry.
It does matter, for a very simple reason. The doctor (or the practice) agrees to perform a variety of specific procedures at a fixed price for each procedure. As these prices are not public information (IMO, they should be), this means the healthcare patient can not shop for treatment at real prices--only artificially HIGH prices. This is one of the reasons driving medical tourism--with the willing help of employers. Everyone saves money and the US healthcare system shows how inefficient it actually is. I posted this info years ago on TMF. It has only grown ever-faster due to the massive increase in US healthcare costs.
