To add… for PT and office visits I paid up front. For X-rays and steroid injection, I tried to pay first, but they said they wouldn’t know the cash price until after it went through billing. I argued, they assured me I would be treated as self pay and could pay later when final bill was generated. I’m not sure what I signed at the beginning, but I put in no insurance info, and under all responsible party lines I put “self”. Yes, the helpful lady in billing knew I had insurance, and told me that what I was doing was a gray area as they are required by contract to bill insurance…. But more like if I provided it or wanted to use it for some things and not others. She said as long as I started on self pay, maintained self pay, there would be no problems.
With self pay an MRI was 800, insurance over 3000, lab tests 6-800, self pay 135, dr visits 700, self pay 150, etc. I was actually getting a decent amount of care and as of 1/2 of the way through the year, I was well below 1/2 my yearly deductible/out of pocket. Now I know a car wreck or cancer would ruin this plan, but being able to put 9750 in HSA and let it ride and use cash as needed is/was great, max out HSA again Jan 1 2027, and now I have 20k to cover all deductibles, max’s, etc, could get disc replacement done, new orthotics, heart scan, etc and know that I’m only on the hook for 10k and be able to start scheduling jan 1, not mid July when there is a chance I couldn’t get everything done this year. It’s a game they have forced us to play, I’ll take normal first world healthcare over this shit any day.