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At first, it seemed like the stomach flu. Weeks before his 24th birthday in May 2015, Alec Raeshawn Smith was overcome by troubling symptoms. His body ached, his stomach hurt and he wasn’t sleeping well. Laine Lu, a co-worker at his restaurant job, urged him to see a doctor. “This is not normal,” she recalls telling him. “Go get checked out.” His mother, Nicole Smith-Holt, worried too. He called her when he decided to go to a health clinic near Minneapolis. He said, "Seriously, Mom, I think something is really wrong with me." The diagnosis was surprising: Type 1 diabetes. Alec's blood sugar levels were nearly twice the healthy limit. His family didn't have a history of diabetes, and lanky, 6-foot-3 Alec looked like the picture of health. At 23, he seemed too old for Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes because it often strikes children. But as Alec discovered, Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune response that can appear at any age. It is not … [Read more...] about Skyrocketing cost of insulin causes some desperate diabetics to ration
Cost based pricing
Are These $35 Running Shoes as Good as Yours That Cost $150?
Imagine you just placed an online order for a pair of running shoes, a pair of shorts, a jacket, and a long-sleeve tech shirt. The total for that order: around $80. You may be thinking to get that bargain, you have either used one of the best discount codes in history or gone back to a time when $150 running shoes weren’t typical.Alternatively, you may have paid full price at Decathlon Sports. And here’s the kicker: Some of what you bought would function as well as gear costing two or three times as much.What Is Decathlon Sports?Decathlon might be the largest sporting goods manufacturer you haven’t heard of. The French-based company has more than 1,400 stores spread over 48 countries and offers apparel, shoes, and gear for more than 80 sports. Its 2017 revenue was approximately $12.5 billion; the equivalent 2017 figures for Nike and Adidas were $34.4 billion and $24 billion, respectively. Decathlon’s sales figures are notable in part because most of its products … [Read more...] about Are These $35 Running Shoes as Good as Yours That Cost $150?
Disneyland raises prices on all tickets and annual passes
View of castle at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif. on Friday, Dec. 28, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) View of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif. on Friday, Dec. 28, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Sound The gallery will resume inseconds View of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., on July 27, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) View of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride taken at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., on July 27, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter photographed at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., on July 27, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) View of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride taken at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., on July 27, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) View of the Haunted Mansion ride taken at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., on July 27, 2018. (Jose Carlos … [Read more...] about Disneyland raises prices on all tickets and annual passes
Hospitals must post prices online, but they may be more confusing than helpful
As of Jan. 1, in the name of transparency, the Trump administration required that all hospitals post their list prices online. But what is popping up on medical center websites is a dog's breakfast of medical codes, abbreviations and dollar signs -- in little discernible order -- that may initially serve to confuse more than illuminate. Anyone who has ever tried to find out in advance how much a hospital test, procedure or stay will cost knows the frustration: "Nope, can't tell you" or "It depends" are common replies from insurers and medical centers. While more information is always welcome, the new data will fall short of providing most consumers with usable insight. That's because the price lists displayed this week, called chargemasters, are massive compendiums of the prices set by each hospital for every service or drug a patient might encounter. To figure out what, for example, a trip to the emergency room might cost, a patient would have to locate and piece together the price … [Read more...] about Hospitals must post prices online, but they may be more confusing than helpful
As Hospitals Post Sticker Prices Online, Most Patients Will Remain Befuddled
As of Jan. 1, in the name of transparency, the Trump administration required that all hospitals post their list prices online. But what is popping up on medical center websites is a dog’s breakfast of medical codes, abbreviations and dollar signs — in little discernible order — that may initially serve to confuse more than illuminate. Anyone who has ever tried to find out in advance how much a hospital test, procedure or stay will cost knows the frustration: “Nope, can’t tell you” or “It depends” are common replies from insurers and medical centers. While more information is always welcome, the new data will fall short of providing most consumers with usable insight. That’s because the price lists displayed this week, called chargemasters, are massive compendiums of the prices set by each hospital for every service or drug a patient might encounter. To figure out what, for example, a trip to the emergency room might cost, a patient … [Read more...] about As Hospitals Post Sticker Prices Online, Most Patients Will Remain Befuddled