This isn’t news. Hospitals always stick it to insurers. That, and providing care for the uninsured, are why rates are so high.
That meant that I would just pay for my healthcare with a HSA debit card until I met the deductible, which happened exactly once. Because I was on a cash plan I got a lower price because for the billing office my account was service, payment in full, see you in a year. With people who had insurance it was service, code, file, wait, get rejected for some stupid reason, recode, refile, wait and maybe in eight months get partly paid.
And let's not forget all the stupid paperwork that was needed to remain an authorized provider. Not to mention things like Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare and whatever insurance the state was using.
Once you see what the medical business has to go through to get paid you start to understand why the price goes up the more people have insurance.
American health-care is a hairball of state and fed regulation and control
If they would just promote cash payments with no middle-man, many parts of the health-care system would return to a free-market, free-choice system, with much lower prices.
I’ve always thought Indian Reservations should add clinics and hospitals to their list of businesses - outside of taxes and Fed.gov control
I don’t remember what the procedure was, but I asked about the insured price, and they checked my coverage, and told me an amount. I asked for the NO INSURANCE price, and it was substantially less. I’ve experienced this both with a hospital, AND a dentist.
Could it be they are hoping to get something because most uninsured get the treatment and pay nothing.
Cash pricing usually cover cost with little or no profit. This is nothing new. We had the same policy in effect 40 years ago in the hospital where I was employed.
The insurance system is a scam that drives up prices