Very true. The optional part comes in with the itemization of items in the hospital room like baby diapers or a tylenol. I would definitely bring my own if I knew the hospital would bill me (or my insurance), 800$ for a tylenol. I live in France now, so it is a different story (doctor shortage currently)..
If that was truly the only exception, then it wouldn't be the case that I am only told the price of routine, non-life-threatening visits after visiting. Things like yearly doctor checkups, dental cleanings/checkups, vision checkups, specific x-rays/MRIs, etc.
When my wife had our first child, the hospital sent the placenta out for sampling without our permission. This "in network" hospital then billed us for an "out of network" expense on a decision they made without our consent. Same hospital also double charged us for anesthesia because they choose to have a CRNA and anesthesiologist in the room at the same time.
Thankfully, my wife works in healthcare so we called their BS. We suspect that this hospital is doing this to essentially birth.