“Most people are unaware that if they don’t use insurance, they can negotiate upfront cash prices with hospitals and providers substantially below the ‘list’ price. Doctors are happy to do this. We get paid promptly, without paying office staff to wade through the insurance-payment morass. So we canceled the surgery and started the scheduling process all over again, this time classifying my patient as a ‘self-pay’ (or uninsured) patient. He underwent his operation the very next day, with a total bill of just a little over $3,000, including doctor and hospital fees. He ended up saving $17,000 by not using insurance.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324139404579017113415486176.html
