Hacker News Reader

Cash payments don't count toward a patient's (insurance) deductible

This seems like a problem. How is this not an anti-trust violation? In order to benefit from the insurance contact you purchased, you must use a provider who will submit to an insurance company's capricious payment system.

View on HN

This is probably a simplification. Normally if you use an out-of-network provider, the cost counts against your out-of-network deductible, which is significantly higher than your in-network deductible. So it may well be that his insurance would count this against his out-of-network deductible, which is so high that he would never reach it anyway.

No. In order to utilize your insurance plan's out-of-network services, the insurance company has to be in the loop. A cash-based system completely circumvents insurance.

Right, you certainly have to loop in your insurance company, by filing a claim (which they won't pay, obviously).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com