Cash Discounts

It might pay to use cash for some medical care even when you have health insurance, but this is an industry secret hospitals don't want to spread around. According to the LA Times, Jo Ann Snyder paid more than $2,000 for her share of a $6,707 CT scan after abdominal surgery, while her health insurance paid the rest. Strangely, if she'd paid cash, she would have paid only $1,054. The investigation also found that cash prices vary widely between institutions.