Each insurance company negotiates a different discount, which varies depending on who has the leverage. The result is that insured patients don’t pay full price, unless their insurance carrier doesn’t have a contract. Then they’re “out-of-network” and face whatever the hospital decides to charge. The only difference between the game in car sales and health care is the size of the margin. For the car dealer, getting people to pay sticker price can mean making 15% more off the sale. But for a hospital, gouging the sick and injured can mean making 1,000% more.
