Hospitals’ list prices for surgeries, therapies, and other procedures always come with massive discounts. Financial documents at a prominent hospital system in Los Angeles show just how large those discounts are — and how raw of a deal uninsured patients could be getting.
Cedars-Sinai reported more than $10.2 billion of gross patient revenue in the most recent three-month period that ended Sept. 30, according to new financial documents. That’s the total amount the hospital system billed various health insurers and government programs based on its chargemaster rates — in other words, before negotiated discounts were applied.
Total deductions, which mostly include those negotiated or mandated discounts, were more than $8.6 billion in that same quarter. That means more than 84% of Cedars-Sinai’s gross charges disappeared into the ether.