Even Patients Are Shocked by the Prices Their Insurers Will Pay — And It Costs All of Us

(By Elisabeth Rosenthal for KFF Health News)

Samantha Smith of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, went into the operating room for emergency removal of an ectopic pregnancy. “I’m grateful I didn’t die,” she said, but she was shocked to see that the outpatient surgery was billed to her insurer for about $100,000.

Jamie Estrada of Albuquerque, New Mexico, twice received injections of lidocaine in his upper spine to test if a permanent nerve ablation would treat his chronic neck pain. His pain vanished — until the numbing agent wore off about six hours later. The real zinger: His insurer was billed $28,000 for each 10-minute procedure. Continue reading here…

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health polity news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

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