> Noone ever goes into a restaurant, orders a bowl of soup, eats it, and then becomes mortified upon receiving a bill of $250. Another problem is that even if

> Noone ever goes into a restaurant, orders a bowl of soup, eats it, and then becomes mortified upon receiving a bill of $250. Another problem is that even if you have the exact CPT or ICD codes for the procedure/lab and call the place to inquire about the price, the best you can get is that they will get back to you after several days and give you an approximate figure. To extend the analogy quoted above: No one ever calls a restaurant, inquires about the price of a bowl of a particular type of soup, and has to wait for several days for the restaurant to get back to them and say it could cost anywhere from $100 to $300.