A Tie Is Not a Discount

Hospitals have had to post their prices since 2021. They post two of them: the cash price, and what insurers negotiated. SumHealth, a price-data company, put both side by side for a brain MRI at 539 hospitals.

At about half, cash was cheaper than the median insurance rate. At the typical hospital, it was a tie.

I am not shocked. The network discount was always sold as the good price. A tie with walking in and paying isn't a discount. It's paperwork.

I am not anti-insurance. Keep a policy for the wreck. But for the scan, the labs, and the visit, a posted price you can see before you go beats a negotiated rate you find out about after.

Direct care has done this from the start. The number on the door is the number you pay.

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