Here’s the stupid part – you have to make cash arrangements before service is rendered, and you have to pay when the service is received. It’s just another way that people with money get to live cheaper than people without it. If you have insurance, you can threaten to use it, and providers will deal on the price.
The reality is that none of these prices is fixed, and they can be negotiated. If you wait until after the service has been rendered, you have agreed to the highest price.
Update: None of this applies to the Emergency room, where everyone gets ripped off with hyper-inflated prices.
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