[crs]

I actually had a discussion with my doctor on this very subject. He was complaining that he could not actually advertise prices as it is apparently considered price fixing if doctors do that (or so he says). He also told me he would be stupid not to bill the highest possible price he could for things because he doesn't know exactly what the insurance companies will accept and he could be leaving money on the table otherwise. So don't try to distinguish between specialists and GP's, they all do it.

[BadCookie]

Interesting. It's cool that your doctor tried to be honest with you about it. It would be so much better if you were his customer and not your insurance company.

Since I have an HSA, I write checks to every doctor that I see. (My company buys me high deductible insurance and puts $6k into an HSA each year for my family.) When I visit my GP, it's $72 for usually 20 minutes of his time and I can get in to see him the same day. Specialist appointments are $800+ for what often feels like a more cursory conversation that I waited a month or two for. That's why I am not as quick to blame GPs. They have to rent office space and hire office staff on top of acquiring an expensive education, so the price that they charge (to someone with insurance like me, anyway) feels pretty justifiable.