Last week I woke up one morning and literally couldn’t get out of bed. My back muscles had locked up to allegedly protect me from further injury. To be fair, this is not the first time it’s happened. I’ve had back issues my entire adult life. Ever since I slipped the L5 S1 disc in college, it’s been a struggle. I likely slipped another disc recently but the only way to know for certain is to get an MRI, or magnetic resonance image, of my lower spine.
I started by contacting my family physician who put in a referral at our local hospital OHSU. Oregon Health and Sciences University is a great teaching hospital with wonderful facilities and expert doctors. They also charge an insane amount for an MRI. At OHSU, an MRI for the lower lumbar spine costs $2400. My health insurance’s deductible is $3000 and this year I’ve only spent $80. So according to Pacific Source (my insurance company) wherever I get the MRI, it’s coming out of my pocket. To make matters worse, my deductible resets at the end of the year so if I spend $2400 on an MRI, it won’t help lower my deductible for 2022.
When I posted the cost of the MRI on Facebook, a number of friends commented that it seemed outrageously high. I called my chiropractor, the original doctor that sent the referral, and asked if he knew of another place to get an MRI. Turns out a local imaging company offers the same service, using the exact same machine that provides the same quality imagery, for $750. I was fortunate to get an open and honest person on the phone when I called to cancel with OHSU.
“So how can you guys charge $2400 for an MRI when another agency in town charges $750,” I asked. “That’s like a huge price difference. If it was $100 or $200 more I could justify it because you have nice waiting room music but this is ridiculous.”
“Honestly, we do it because usually no one asks and we can charge that much,” the scheduler said.
“That’s so sad. I mean, it’s one thing to make a profit. It’s another thing to take advantage of people. $2400 seems like you’re taking advantage of people.”
“No comment.”
This is the story of health care in America. Charge as much as you can and hope no one bothers to ask questions or shop around for a better deal. And if that means putting people into serious debt or burdening families fighting against so many other outside forces, well too bad.
The best way to change the system is through legislation and creating some form of standardized cost for services across the country. There’s no reason an MRI in Portland should cost $2400 and the same MRI only $500 in Chicago. But if you’re not an activist and you don’t really know how to go about changing healthcare legislation on a national level, you could invest in health care companies and use the money you make to pay for your own healthcare and help others less fortunate than you do the same. I realize I’m suggesting a ‘if you can’t beat em, join em’ scenario and it feels a little like selling out. But I’m investing in gambling companies because I’ve lost so much gambling over the years and this feels about the same.
So, which healthcare companies are worth investing in?
Globus Medical (GMED) Based in PA, the company designs products that enable surgeons to promote healing in patients with musculoskeletal disorders. The Motley Fool recommended them over a year ago and it’s up 26% in that time.
Anthem Inc. (ANTM) Formerly Wellpoint, Anthem is the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. As of 2018, the company had approximately 40 million members. I first bought shares in 2007 and since that time they’re up 450%. When you’re being asked to pay $2400 for an MRI, it helps to own a stock like Anthem.
United Health Group (UNH) It’s a huge company ($72.3 billion in revenues in its most recent quarter) and they just launched a new program focusing on virtual healthcare which should boost revenues even more. I hate insurance companies but my guess is if you own UNH, you hate them a little less.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) If you believe in robots, this is a great company to own. ISRG manufactures and markets robotic products designed to improve clinical outcomes of patients through minimally invasive surgery. In the company’s most recent quarter, they had $8.2 billion in cash on their balance sheet and zero debt. Not too shabby.
HCA Healthcare (HCA) owns 183 hospitals, surgery centers, urgent care centers, physician clinics and freestanding emergency rooms in 20 states and the U.K. It’s third quarter net income was $2.3 billion compared to $668 million in Q3 2020 and over the past year the stock is up 60.3%.
At some point, we’re all going to get sick or hurt and need healthcare services. Might as well invest in a few of these stocks and make the whole ordeal a little less painful.
