Surprise! And Not In A Good Way.... You might think that when you go in for surgery at your favorite hospital, they have all the staff and expertise to actually ‘do’ your surgery...but you’d be wrong! Turns out—kinda on a whim—the surgeon can decide to add independent consultants to help him/her with the surgery! And those added consultants—called surgical assistants—don’t have a medical or nursing license...And, they are often not covered by insurance. So the doctors and surgical assistants make more money, and the patient is stuck with a big bill. I can’t imagine going to a surgeon who needs to add outside help to perform any surgery—hospitals have very strong OR certified special nurses and techs who are experts in operating rooms...and they are covered by insurance! So what’s going on? Another way private equity companies are ripping off the Healthcare Patient. Some of the larger surgical assistants Private equity firms often target segments of the health care system where patients have little choice in who provides their care. The private equity business models include keeping such helpers out-of-network so they can bill patients for larger amounts than they could negotiate from insurance companies. Take Away: Ask if ALL of your surgical team are in-network. …see more