As I read this article, all I could think of is that this is insane.

Moore’s insurer, Cigna, was charged $2,758 by the medical center for the two ultrasounds. However, Cigna gets a contractual discount of just over $1,000 because it’s, well, Cigna. All insurers cut such sweetheart deals with medical providers.

That lowered the bill to $1,739. Cigna paid $500. That left a balance of $1,239, for which Mika was entirely responsible because she hadn’t met her $1,250 deductible for the year.

Moore quickly ascertained online that the average cost for a pair of ultrasounds is about $500 — meaning the medical center’s original $2,758 charge represented a more than 400% markup.

Cigna’s lower contractual charge of $1,739 still meant the bill had been marked up more than 200%.

And the $1,239 Mika had to pay was more than twice the national average.

Wait, it gets even worse.

Moore said that after working her way through various levels of customer service in the medical center’s billing department, she learned that the cash price for the two ultrasounds was $521.

In other words, if Mika hadn’t been insured and was paying completely out of pocket, she would have been charged a fraction of the insured cost.

Source: LA Times

LOL using health insurance to spend more money, how anyone can defend the US health care industry is beyond me.  Medicare for all is the only answer and I’m glad it’s getting traction at least with one of the political parties.