[dragonwriter]

> Why can't that be the same case if I go to get a chest X-ray with posterior-antierior and lateral views? If you have the CPT code(s) and the insurance information, it should not be difficult or time consuming to get the cost estimate.

It is both difficult and time consuming [0], and, moreover, often distant from the provider, because medical billing is quite often outsourced.

[0] Perhaps not in the median case, but there are plenty of complex cases, which is one of the reasons this is outsourced.