Do you know how hospitals gouge them? They will charge $5,000 for a simple procedure ... the same procedure they will bill an insurer a couple of hundred dollars for ... so that one paying customer ends up paying for dozens of other uninsured folks to end up having the procedure for free.
This should be criminalized. The hospitals know they cannot turn away indigent patients and that those patients will not pay them. So they extort it from the folks who do pay their own way.
I am sure this will only grow worse in time.
I've found the opposite.
For the same exact procedure (a non-cosmetic laser treatment for my daughter, which is covered by my insurance), the dermatologist charges me $200 if I pay in cash but charges the insurance company $800.
I'm not sure what the insurance actually pays him though; perhaps also $200. The $600 difference in the actual charge is so interesting though.
The hospitals I've worked for only charge a self-insured patient the same as they would be reimbursed from an insurance company (usually Medicare rates). If they are to be reimbursed $1200 from Medicare, that is the rate the self-insured/self-paying is billed. I'm sure every hospital system may be different, but it may be helpful to check with the hospital prior to receiving services if possible.