Healthcare

From the NY Times:

In Mr. Drier’s case, the primary surgeon, Dr. Nathaniel L. Tindel, had said he would accept a negotiated fee determined through Mr. Drier’s insurance company, which ended up being about $6,200. (Mr. Drier had to pay $3,000 of that to meet his deductible.) But the assistant, Dr. Harrison T. Mu, was out of network and sent the $117,000 bill. Insurance experts say surgeons and assistants sometimes share proceeds from operations, but Dr. Tindel’s office says he and Dr. Mu do not. Dr. Mu’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Just to be clear: the primary surgeon who performed this 3.5 hour surgery originally billed $133,000. However, he was a semi-reasonable human being, and accepted a less ludicrous, pre-negotiated fee of $6,200.

The assistant surgeon, however, billed for, and collected, the full $117,000 for his three and a half hours of assisting. That's just over $33,000 per hour. For assisting. All while the primary surgeon squeaked by on only $1,771 per hour.

In case you were wondering, shit like this is our biggest healthcare problem in the United States.