[DannyTN]

"I'm pretty sure the $450,000 figure has been inflated several times as the story has been passed along."

No, I received the bill. Medicare only paid about 15% of that bill. And they wrote off the rest. And that's one of the things that's wrong with medicine today. The old antitrust laws should apply that they can't charge a different rate for the same service.

[wmfights]

No, I received the bill. Medicare only paid about 15% of that bill. And they wrote off the rest.

So actual payment was about $67,500.

And they wrote off the rest.

I would suggest they never expected the difference. Hospitals negotiate everything. We don't see it if an insurance company is handling the bill, but if you tell them I can't pay that amount they will negotiate. I would point you back to the example of the contractor as an example.