Hospital Bill, German style

[DFW]

67. That was a weird deal with the billing.

American hospitals give discounts to insurance companies, but NOT to individuals. They are quite open about it. This was a rare occasion when I was in Dallas, and Blue Cross knew it would be hit with a massive and very public lawsuit by my employer if they denied coverage. The bill said $36,000, reduced to $26,000 for the insurance company. How perverse is THAT? I was still hit for 10%, or $2600, plus some other fees, so I was “only” hit for somewhere between $3500 and $4000 out of pocket. I don’t even recall if that was deductible from my taxable income in the US. In Germany it definitely is.