Man Doesn’t Use Health Insurance to Get Lower Bill

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. I quoted him a reasonable upfront cash price, as did the anesthesiologist. We contacted a different hospital and they quoted him a reasonable upfront cash price for the outpatient surgical/nursing services. 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. This process taught us a few things. First, most people these days don’t have health “insurance.” They have prepaid health plans. They pay premiums to take advantage of a pre-negotiated fee schedule arranged for and administered by a third party. My patient, on the other hand, had insurance.

Depending on what kind of health insurance plan you have, there are certain cases where it’s just cheaper to “self-pay” without insurance to take advantage of the markdown given to patients who pay in cash. This is a story about one of those cases, though it’s a story that is politicized in the end.

Photo: Fotos GOVBA

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