Why YSK: Most hospitals send a summary bill (for example pharmacy: $5,000) hoping you’ll panic and just pay it. These are usually full of errors or huge markups. Before you pay anything, call the billing department and ask for an itemized bill with CPT codes. This will not only force a human to review it, but it also gives you the ability to spot BS. I tried this last year and the bill dropped by about 30% literally just because I asked, so don’t let them rip you off.
I don’t think it’s normal at all. I think it’s probably going to kill me one day because I have no interest in interacting with a system where they’re apparently just making shit up with 1000s of my dollars.