I have an Anthem Blue Cross (California) family plan. It has a high deductible (7500), and is attached to an HSA. Most normal routine preventative maintenance

I have an Anthem Blue Cross (California) family plan. It has a high deductible (7500), and is attached to an HSA. Most normal routine preventative maintenance is covered. My premium is $200/month. I treat this plan as 'major medical' and sock away as much money as possible into the HSA, which I use for EVERYTHING I CAN. As an interesting side note. I was talking to my doctor, who happens to have the same health insurance as me. He said that I am better off using my HSA in most cases. For example, his practice charges $130 for a routine visit if I pay directly from the HSA. If I charge it to my insurance, its more like $1300. Why? 1, because dealing with insurance, by his own admission, is a PITA, and 2, he will ALWAYS charge the maximum that will be covered by insurance... its how business is done. But for cash (HSA) payments, the administrative overhead is so low and the risk factors for nonpayment (insurance denies the claim, etc) are so low and the A/P cycle is so short, he would rather get paid $130 NOW (on my way out) than get $1300 90 days net IF insurance approves the claim. He said a lot of doctors and dentists do it this way and I should ALWAYS ask 'whats the cash price' because some have tiered rates like he does. Most people don't care that its cheaper to pay cash because for most people, their primary concern is out of pocket expense. Most people would rather charge their insurance $1300 so long as they don't have to pay anything than to pay $130 and not 'overpay' (albeit opaquely)