I just received a statement from my insurnace company and they were charged $75.000 for my lapband surgery. It was totally laproscopic, it was done at a surgery center as opposed to a hospital, i was only there for a few hours. My surgery was done in California. My portion of the bill only amounts to around $3,800 but still. Has anyone ever heard of the surgery being this high?

What I don't understand is this: Is it legal for a surgeon & hospital (and anesthesiologist - and whomever else gets paid for the surgery) to charge the insurance company more for the surgery than they would charge a self-pay patient?

I know that a certain surgeon started charging the same for fills whether a patient is self-pay or insured, because his lawyer advised him that the insurance companies might take legal action against him otherwise.

Does it make a difference whether the billing is for surgery or for follow-up care?

What I don't understand is this: Is it legal for a surgeon & hospital (and anesthesiologist - and whomever else gets paid for the surgery) to charge the insurance company more for the surgery than they would charge a self-pay patient?

I was thinking about this exact same thing. When I looked up my claims earlier to see what the dr & hospital charged my insurance, I looked at my fill too. $600 charged to the insurance co, and they paid a "discounted" rate of $535.58 to dr.

I went for a fill this afternoon and a self-pay patient paid $200 for a fill. $200 vs $600. It doesn't add up!