Bargaining Down the Medical Bills – NYTimes.com

You too, as an individual, can purchase health care at “bulk prices” just like insurance companies do. You just have to know the weaknesses of how our health care system works.

This is an extremely helpful article for anyone ever in need of expensive health care without having any health insurance.

You see…once hospitals have delivered care, they can’t take it back. They’re more than happy to settle with you for the same amount they’d get paid by even Medicare, the lowest of the low. And not only that, they’ll even settle for a payment plan over the course of years. It’s better to do this, because if it goes to collections, the hospitals will often get 15 cents on the dollar. At least by settling with you, they’ll get paid the same amount as they’d get from an insurance company without the overhead of trying to collect from an insurance company.

Helpful hints indeed.

Bargaining Down the Medical Bills – NYTimes.com