Heck, even post facto, if you're in an emergency and you end up stuck at a hospital that charges $50K for a procedure, and then while recovering you find a near

Heck, even post facto, if you're in an emergency and you end up stuck at a hospital that charges $50K for a procedure, and then while recovering you find a nearby hospital that does it for $10K, you're not necessarily without options. It's not hard to go to the provider who actually gave you service and say "You know, they charge 20% what you do... what's the odds I can cause $40K's worth of stink in the local news if you don't cut my price down now?" (You may want to consult with a lawyer friend a bit before making quite such a naked statement; that may constitute blackmail in your jurisdiction. But there will still be "ways" of phrasing things in your jurisdiction. Talking to a lawyer may not be all bad anyhow, whatever it is you have to say will sound more credible with some lawyer's letterhead on top. Hospitals hear a lot of amateur lawyers expound their novel legal theories every day.) I'm not going to deny the relationship in that situation is still lopsided in the direction of the first hospital, but the situation is not necessarily 100% in their favor.