> In theory you might have insurance, but while unconscious you might still ‘pick’ an out-of-network hospital or anesthesiologist and end up with huge bills. If you know the right people and can afford it, you could then negotiate this down. Maybe. I know several smart Americans that had to live from their car while they sorted out financial issues.
According to a sign at a hospital I read recently, this protection cannot be waived in the ER. The ER is simply not allowed to issue a “surprise” bill. (Which still permits outrageous bills, but insurance pays them per the usual rules.)
To my understanding they just give a paper now that you have to sign. It's an agreement that "they don't know the price yet because it's ER, and so they will tell you later"
According to the sign, it is simply not possible to sign away one’s right not to be surprise-billed.
Also, I’ve seen ERs that have patients sign little digital signature pads without ever showing the patients the legalese in question. I don’t see how that could possibly hold up in court.
Hm, ok. I had an experience when signed something like I said, and then a couple of weeks later they charged 7x of what I expected as a fair price. Don't know how that was possible then.
It was higher that the price on the website, which they supposed to provide. But they didn't care as they explained the website is simply outdated.
This particular issue is, supposedly, fixed. See:
https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/Ending-Surprise-Medical-Bill...
According to a sign at a hospital I read recently, this protection cannot be waived in the ER. The ER is simply not allowed to issue a “surprise” bill. (Which still permits outrageous bills, but insurance pays them per the usual rules.)