Most billing departments won't provide prices without the billing codes for the procedures. How do you get the billing codes? You have to see a doctor and get a

Most billing departments won't provide prices without the billing codes for the procedures. How do you get the billing codes? You have to see a doctor and get a treatment plan. How do you find out how much seeing the doctor is going to cost to get your treatment plan? You call the billing department for a quote. We went through this during a very stressful time when my SO found a lump in her breast, and it took the kindness of a nurse that worked between the doctors and the billing department to give us a possible list to get a ballpark of what to expect. She called us after hours to tell us because she didn't want to get in trouble with her manager. Once we had that information, we called several hospitals for quotes and ended up being offered 40-70% discounts. It went from thousands to hundreds to ultimately having some of the tests comped... all because we had a little information and asked the right questions about the process. This is a disgrace and not how you treat people's health.