[kalleboo]

> that you didn't really have the chance of negotiating

Not American, but from what I've read in these types of news articles, you often CAN negotiate it down a lot, but when you get a huge bill in the mail, the first thing you think isn't "I'm going to try to haggle down my $5000 bill with this huge hospital" you think "I'm so screwed. Time to google 'personal bankruptcy', was it 7 years?". Pharmaceutical companies are also always saying that they will subsidize prescription medications for those who can't afford it, but I dunno how much that is BS or not.

[a-saleh]

Oh, good to know. From the horror stories you usually read in the news it seemed that "try to haggle down my $5000 bill with this huge hospital" is something you just don't get to do, if you are a patient, I will remember that if that ever comes up (even though I hope it doesn't :)

[maxerickson]

If you use insurance they are less willing to negotiate.

(but you are getting the negotiated price anyway; the paranoid part of my brain thinks they run a scam here by recoding bills that come after the deductible has been met, which is a different sort of negotiation than agreeing on prices for services)

[gm-conspiracy]

The urgent care clinic near me will charge $200 for a visit if you show insurance.

If you claim to not have insurance, the same visit is $80.

[kalleboo]

I wonder what the result would be of the US government requiring all hospitals to have a public, fixed, non-negotiable price list the same for all insured and uninsured.