To the editor:

Thursday’s headline cries: “Unpaid bills put strain on hospitals.” Don’t just pity the hospitals; pity all who must use their services or argue with their billing departments.

When we go to an auto care shop for an oil change, we know what it will cost upfront. When we go to a restaurant for a meal, we know what it will cost upfront. When we go to the hospital (or doctor, lab or other medical provider), we don’t know what anything will cost : ever. It’s not posted upfront anywhere, nor will most of them answer pricing questions over the phone before an actual appointment.

We pay for insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays and after-visit percentages. All the while the medical provider is agreeing to accept a lesser amount from the insurance company than what was originally billed. How is it OK to charge $500 for a procedure that the hospital will accept $97 from insurance as payment in full? Why can’t I get the same thing done for $97 if I don’t have insurance? Why the difference in pricing?

Health care pricing and health insurance are major problems in this country. I pray the next administration actually cares about health care, because it’s blatantly obvious that the current president does not consider it part of his bizarre agenda. We’re supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, not the land of the sick and the home of medical bills from hell.

Kylie Jackson,

Lawrence