Medical Monopoly
Group Purchasing Organizations are charged with saving hospitals money, but special carve-outs from Congress, a closed and secretive marketplace, and the ability to collect fees and pay rebates all serve to drive up costs for patients.
The price of a replacement knee from a supplier can cost a hospital around $250, but a hospital can turn around and charge a patient more than $5,000 for the same implant prior to surgery.
As politicians and industry experts struggle to contain the country’s spiraling health care prices, a simple metal screw available in any metro Detroit hardware store illustrates the ever-escalating costs consumers, patients, and insurance companies pay for hospital care.
The common screw is identical to ones produced free of bacteria, packaged, and sold in kits of four that are used in spinal reconstruction surgery.
Recent invoices provided by a Northville-based supplier show the company pays a manufacturer $50 per screw. The supplier marks up each screw to $800 and sells them to hospitals. The hospitals, in turn, charge as much as $2,400 per screw and bill that amount to insurance companies.
- February 14, 2019 - February 22, 2019
- January 31, 2019 - February 13, 2019
- January 25, 2019 - January 25, 2019