Need surgery? Good luck getting hospital cost info

[Lasher]

5. You need a different insurance company.

I have Blue Cross. They negotiate contracts with hospitals, to nail down just how much each procedure costs. Hospitals have to submit properly coded invoices to them, and there's no mystery charges such as the fees you've described. Hospitals often bill multiple times for a procedure that has been performed only once. Once Blue Cross has refused to pay an improper fee, the hospital cannot try to collect if from me. It's in the contract.

It's shocking, the bullshit that health care providers try to get us to pay for. I believe their systematically excessive charges often constitute criminal fraud.