Her screenshots, taken earlier this year, speak for themselves.
What they show are price hikes ranging from 575% to 675% being automatically generated by the hospital’s software.
The eye-popping increases are so routine, apparently, the software even displays the formula it uses to convert reasonable medical costs to billed amounts that are much, much higher.
For example, one screenshot is for sutures — that is, medical thread, a.k.a. stitches. Scripps’ system put the basic “cost per unit” at $19.30.
But the system said the “computed charge per unit” was $149.58. This is how much the patient and his or her insurer would be billed.
The system helpfully included a formula for reaching this amount: “$149.58 = $19.30 + ($19.30 x 675%).”
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-12-10/column-hea...