[eric_the_read]

I had a doctor once recommend a temporary treatment that would be provided by a third party. I called the third party and asked how much it would cost; they had no idea. I called my insurance company and asked how much it would cost; they had no idea. I called my doctor and asked how much it would cost; they had no idea.

Literally nobody involved in the entire chain of providers had any idea how much it would cost. The best advice anybody could give me was to get the treatment, then look at the bill afterwards. (Oh, and nobody had any idea when I might get a bill either-- my wife is still receiving bills from the birth of our most recent child, 18 months ago.)

[evancordell]

> my wife is still receiving bills from the birth of our most recent child, 18 months ago

I've been dealing with this as well, and the uncertainty has been the most frustrating thing.

Medical bills from the same institution should be required to be high watermarks - i.e. if you give me a bill in March, you can't send me a bill in April that has charges from February that _weren't on the bill from March_. It feels like fraud (and maybe it is, but who has time to figure that out?)