There's a pretty interesting blog post here on the wide variations in the prices quoted and charged for MRI scans in California:How much should you pay?
Well, one person was told the price is $1,850, but if you pay up front, you can save almost $1,300.
The note on our form, shared by our community member: "I was told procedure would be 1850. I have a 7500 deductible. So I talked to the office mgr who said if I paid upfront and agreed not to report the procedure to Blue Cross, that it would be $580."
On our Facebook page, one contributor wrote, "I was going to be billed $830 through my PPO for an MRI. The cash price? $500."
Plenty of other service providers negotiate discounts for individual clients. But the whole situation is a reminder of how hard it is for the government to cost health care cost inflation overall, or the health care part of the consumer price index. Which of the many prices should the government track?