It's not that simple .. Pretty much no one pays those prices. But it's one of the key problems with the US medical system and it's never gonna change because no politician would ever dare touch the subject.
It all comes down to how hospitals billing practices work. They either price high and discount big or price low and discount less. The high price is the bargaining chip. Many try to claim it's because of uninsured but that's not true either.
It's simply the system feeding on it's self and the same hospital might have 20 different prices for that same surgery all dependent on whom they are billing.
