Why can hospitals upcharge so many costs?

Question

I see a lot of people post their net total hospital bills and they are in the tens of thousands of dollars. Yet, when a customer asks for an itemized list of the costs, the total always goes down. Do hospitals have a loophole or just free reign on what costs within their care?

In: 5

Answer 1

Because health insurance will pay for it. And that’s because the policy owners will pay the premiums for medical insurance.

Answer 2

A lot of reimbursement is based off a percentage. So if insurance only pays 15%, then the hospital charges $100 for 2 Tylenol.