Here’s my American Healthcare story:

• snap finger bone, go to urgent care to get splint
• pay 50ish dollars that day
• 2 months later, get bill for 200 dollars
• ahah! everyone says to ask for an itemized bill! do that
• get itemized bill back that claims the 200 charge is for ‘visiting with a doctor with knowledge of medical history’ (paraphrasing)
• contest charge because I did not see a doctor, and splinting a snapped finger does not require any fucking context at all
• get runaround for 2 months, while being threatened with late fees
• finally they say they will adjust the bill
• get new bill for $201, ‘for a visit that did not include a doctor’ (no fucking joke)

welcome the USA, where healthcare operations are scams

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/arizona-based-nextcare-inc-pay-us-10-million-resolve-false-claims-act-allegations

https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/urgent-care-provider-convicted-health-care-fraud-and-ordered-pay-125-million

(these are just 2 of the scams in my state, thanks to shell companies when one is shut, another opens)

edit: and in case anyone thinks I paid that shit, I didn’t. I sent them a polite version of a ‘fuck you’ reply. Then covid hit and I never heard from them again.