"The insurance companies in the US don't negotiate lower prices, they just pass on the cost to policy holders in their deductibles." I'm sorry, this is wrong.

"The insurance companies in the US don't negotiate lower prices, they just pass on the cost to policy holders in their deductibles." I'm sorry, this is wrong. The insurance companies actually DO negotiate lower prices. I recently had surgery and through my billing statements watched as first the hospital attempted to charge an obscene amount (that would have bankrupted me several times over had I not had insurance), then having my insurance company go through every line in the bill to let them know the max amt they will pay for each service provided. This was recently Reported on, I'll try and find the article.