Tuesday Morning With Justin: Healthcare, Leadership & Life
Tuesday Morning With Justin: Healthcare, Leadership & Life
Unveiling the True Price Tags Behind Common Medical Procedures
Shocked doesn't begin to describe our reaction when we discovered the true cost of common medical procedures. After attending an eye-opening Free Market Medical Association event in Omaha, we're pulling back the curtain on healthcare's most closely guarded secret: the massive gap between what procedures actually cost and what patients are billed.
Would you believe that your $200 comprehensive metabolic panel actually costs just $2.58 to produce? Or that the MRI you were billed $4,000 for costs independent imaging clinics only $425 to perform? The disparities don't stop there – colonoscopies priced at up to $10,000 are available through direct contracts for $1,200, while gallbladder removals costing as much as $24,000 have a true cost closer to $6,500.
The culprit behind these astronomical markups? Facilities charges that inflate prices without adding value. But there's hope on the horizon. By connecting direct primary care physicians with reasonably priced labs, imaging centers, and surgical facilities, we're creating a healthcare system that aligns incentives with patient outcomes rather than profit margins. This transparent approach is already transforming how companies and their employees access quality care without the predatory pricing that's become standard practice. Join us next time as we paint a detailed picture of what this revolutionary healthcare model looks like in practice – and how it could save you thousands while improving your care experience.
Ready to stop overpaying for healthcare? Subscribe now and discover how to navigate a system that's been deliberately designed to confuse and overcharge you. Your wallet (and your health) will thank you.
Music by Alex Lambert.
Contact Justin via text 740-525-5259 or via email JFutrell@TrueNorthCompanies.com
I welcome the opportunity to hear your feedback from this episode!
Thanks again to my musically gifted friend Alex Lambert for the music. Also thanks to Kevin Asehan for the edits.
Welcome to another Tuesday morning with Justin. I'm Justin Futrell, benefit Advisor at True North Companies, and today I want to talk about what my colleague Brandon and I learned yesterday at an event in Omaha with the Free Market Medical Association. Well, I want to just dive in to cost and thinking about the actual costs in healthcare with four specific examples. When I say the name of a procedure in healthcare, I want you to think what is the first thought you have as to how much it's going to cost. Okay, how much it's going to cost. Okay, how much, how much it's going to cost? So the first category comprehensive metabolic lab panel. How much do you think it costs? The average price is $200. What's the actual cost of that? An independent lab shared that the true cost is $2.58. Okay, let's try another an MRI. How much does an MRI cost? Well, the average price is $4,000, all the way up to $10,000. Thousand dollars how much does that mri imaging cost? Well, an independent imaging clinic said we charge 425 dollars for an mri.
Speaker 1:Huh, colonoscopy what does a colonoscopy cost? You know usually see $2,000 up to $10,000 for a colonoscopy. So what's billed? Well, we're seeing direct contracts for colonoscopies at $1,200. Very often, very commonly, throughout the country. So the question becomes okay.
Speaker 1:One more I said four, I promised four Gallbladder removal. Gallbladder removal 12,000 to 24,000. Probably weren't very close on that one At least I was. I was like I don't know how serious this is. Anyway. 12,000 to 24,000. And the true cost of that is 6,500. So what's the difference? The difference is facilities charges. The last episode was on direct primary care. Imagine if direct primary care in a clinic a team that has aligned incentives with you and wanting to take care of you and wanting to lead you to different pieces of the healthcare system, who are not egregiously billing us. Imagine if your direct primary care could then steer you to these places. We just talked about An independent lab. If you need a blood draw, an imaging clinic that's reasonably priced, a procedure like gallbladder if you need it, it's not marked up two or three times higher. This is the healthcare system that we're creating for companies and their people. In the next episode, I want to paint a picture for you of what that actually looks like.
