A couple were told they faced a $200,000 (£146,500) medical bill when their baby was born prematurely in the US, despite them having travel insurance which covered her pregnancy.
A couple were told they faced a $200,000 (£146,500) medical bill when their baby was born prematurely in the US, despite them having travel insurance which covered her pregnancy.
Insurance companies make deals with hospitals along the lines of “We’ll pay 1k for this procedure which should cost 300 bucks, or 40% of your standard rates, whichever is lower.” So the standard rate becomes $2500.
Then the insurance company will require a 40% “copay” based on the standard rates, and the patient ends up paying the $1000 and the insurance company doesn’t pay shit despite collecting hundreds a month in premiums.
If you tell them you don’t have insurance they’ll frequently discount the fee to the $300 it should cost.
And this is embraced because profit is capped to a percentage of payouts