...But it's even more complicated than that, because for many providers that submit directly to insurance (this obviously doesn't apply to those you pay out of

...But it's even more complicated than that, because for many providers that submit directly to insurance (this obviously doesn't apply to those you pay out of pocket and then submit to insurance yourself), they will completely either accept the "allowed amount" from the insurance if it's lower than what they would normally charge, or possibly partially accept it, dropping their fee from what it would normally be, but not as far as the allowed amount, leaving you still paying some amount more than the copay. Single-payer healthcare cannot come soon enough.