Entertaining story about how all of this came about before I go into the details:
I broke my foot at a concert. The artist said, "Atlanta! I want to see how high you can jump!" And well...let's just say that's the last time I jumped that night.
So anyway I've been to a few doctor's offices since then. I have a high-deductible health plan so after discounts it's going to be all out of pocket. I got my bill for my first x-ray and it was certainly reasonable. $250, but after the discount it was only $54.94
My second x-ray was at a different facility because I was at my parents' for Christmas and saw somebody else. That cost? $518.70, and after the discount still $466.83.
I called Aetna, and after being transferred a total of 7 times (not an exaggeration) between the doctor's office, billing, and insurance, I finally found the reason why.
The x-rays were given the same exact code - 73630 - which is just a basic x-ray. The reason for the discounted price being 8.5x higher this time? Because it was an outpatient care facility. Everything about it was an office, except for the fact that it had a hospital's name attached to it.
How is the average person supposed to know that an outpatient care facility costs so much more? How is the average person supposed to know what an outpatient care facility even is when there is no description on the website of the office, not even a mention that it is an outpatient care facility? And last but not least, why would the rate be so much more for an outpatient care facility when it did the exact same thing as the private practice?
Healthcare is frustrating.
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