You can also negotiate on your own. I've occasionally had medical bills that for whatever reason were not covered. I call the provider and if I owe $1,000 I'll

You can also negotiate on your own. I've occasionally had medical bills that for whatever reason were not covered. I call the provider and if I owe $1,000 I'll say I can pay $500 today to settle it. That's more than they will get selling the debt to a collector so they will take it. You generally can't negotiate in advance though, because most providers seem unable or unwilling to tell you what anything is going to cost.