> But most of the time, you're wrong. Health care moves slowly, and there's lots of time to think and plan. The costs of pretty much any procedure is pre-negoti

> But most of the time, you're wrong. Health care moves slowly, and there's lots of time to think and plan. The costs of pretty much any procedure is pre-negotiated by the insurer and the provider, so they actually do know what it's going to cost. They just don't tell you. I received an itemized bill with the exact cost and what would be covered listed, then it changed after the fact. It is certainly the case that for some procedures you can't get this, but for procedures where you know the cost will be hundreds you can easily obtain such a bill. Such bills always involve guesswork though. Even absent insurance this would be true, complications happen.