“Perhaps the “discount” is not as great a hit as I believed.”
No one pays the discount. That is a discount Medicare gets. Then, Medicare pays 80% of the remainder and the patient pays only the 20% left. If the patient has a supplemental policy 2nd to Medicare, that insurance pays the patient part so the patient pays nothing.
The Medicare premium to have that insurance, comes out of the patient’s social security check. The patient him/her/self pays for the supplemental insurance if he/she wants that insurance.
That is and, of course, always has been the case. When I referred to a "hit" I was referring to the discount the medical provider was not permitted to bill and therefore required to absorb.
You will see from the numbers in my initial post the "remainder" was $870.88 of which Medicare paid 53% and the patient paid 43%.
It may be, since so many are confident of the 80/20 formula, that there is a distinction in the billing formula applied to out-patient services and that applicable to hospitalized patients. I am unfamiliar with the latter.
Hope you have a good week.