I guess that might be true but the $117,000 bill has nothing to do with Obamacare. "Drive-by doctoring" in the hospital setting has been getting worse and more blatant for many years.
Yes, “Drive-by doctoring” has been around for a long time. When our first child was born in 1983, natural childbirth with no anesthesia, I was shocked to get a bill for a few thousand from an anesthesist - they claimed that they were on-call and available so they were entitled to the charge as if they had actually done something. I told the insurance they shouldn’t pay as there was no service nor anyone even in the room (our deductible had been more than met) but I believe they went ahead and paid. What a racket.
Wifey and I have both had some relatively minor surgeries and procedures....and we’ve - beforehand - stressed firmly and to anyone within earshot that we do NOT authorize anyone or anything not approved by our insurance.