I pay my dentist and eye doctors. Those are treated differently. There really isn’t eye insurance and dentists usually have normalish prices compared to other doctors.
I mean I can ask my dentist how much it’s going to be and he can actually give me a price before my procedure.
But as I stated above the insurance pays their portion so it’s not like nothing is being paid. Just not the 900% markup.
I don’t recommend doing this. I’m sure it will bite me eventually but it’s been 10+ years. And yes I haven’t had any major or catastrophic medical event in my life. So the bills haven’t been in the +10k range. I’m pretty sure once it gets there they will put a lien or sue me.
I go the same facility every time. I haven’t been denied. My family hasn’t been denied.
If I did go to an ER for something serious I would give them my real name and info. I do have insurance and it will pay a portion. Depending on the size I might pay it. I might not. Just haven’t had anything really large.
I think one of the reasons why most dentists can give you a straight up price on the spot is because they own the practice which means they are the decision maker when it comes to prices. Plus with a dentist, there's a pretty decent chance you're not dealing with insurance companies. With a hospital you're dealing with a million layers of abstraction at both the hospital and insurance company level.
I'm definitely not defending hospitals and most doctor's offices but I think that plays some part in it. There's also a decent amount of dental competition when it comes to routine work such as cleanings, so prices wind up staying somewhat reasonable where as with a hospital there's no competition really due to how insurance works.
I mean I can ask my dentist how much it’s going to be and he can actually give me a price before my procedure.
But as I stated above the insurance pays their portion so it’s not like nothing is being paid. Just not the 900% markup.
I don’t recommend doing this. I’m sure it will bite me eventually but it’s been 10+ years. And yes I haven’t had any major or catastrophic medical event in my life. So the bills haven’t been in the +10k range. I’m pretty sure once it gets there they will put a lien or sue me.
I go the same facility every time. I haven’t been denied. My family hasn’t been denied.
If I did go to an ER for something serious I would give them my real name and info. I do have insurance and it will pay a portion. Depending on the size I might pay it. I might not. Just haven’t had anything really large.