c.a.t. scan costs is. ts this. reporter: patients now have more tools to fight back. tip one, michelle says you can get a pricing menu with brand new applications like health care blue book. type in the procedure and it provides a fair price based on your area. breaks down each cost, physician, facility and anesthesia. tip number two, take that fair price quote and negotiate before the procedure with the billing office or your doctor. and, finally, tip three, find out what the government, medicare, medicaid, is paying for the same procedure. do a little digging on this free website. telling us the minimum charges, right? reporter: right, right. that s the minimum. reporter: putting michelle s help to use, we find a surgery center three miles from them charging $2,800, $2,000 less than they expected to pay and $18,000 less than the most expensive option in the area
abc s paula faris explains. reporter: this little boy can t get enough chocolate ice cream. you have chocolate on your nose. reporter: no wonder, he has a sore throat and in need of a tonsillectomy. that s not covered under his parents health insurance. like 30 million other americans, holly and alex are underinsured. health care expert michelle katz did some digging, contacting hospitals and surgery centers. we were shocked by the quotes. $2,800, $3500, $7,000, $12,000. even $21,000. the american hospital association telling abc news each patient s course of care is different and the costs also reflect more than the cost of serving an individual patient. there need to be a menu. an mri costs this.
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good evening to you and welcome on this monday night. we begin tonight with a question of fairness in america, and a bedrock belief. you don t have to like the irs, but you do expect them to be completely impartial about politics. here s the stated mission of the agency. enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all. but tonight the irs is under fire. did they target the tea party and other conservative groups? abc s chief white house correspondent, jonathan karl, goes in search of the facts. reporter: it s a movement based on the belief that everyday americans have reason to fear the power of their own government. [ shouting and cheering ] reporter: and that s what jennifer stefano, a mom and conservative activist from philadelphia, said she confronted when she was grilled by the irs after trying to start her own tea party group. they would ask these details, and i ve got a baby on one arm, breast-feeding, you know, trying to feed another baby, and trying to fig
paying medical bills. abc s paula faris tells us there is some help available. at last reporter: joyce ann houston has been a musician her entire life even has her own wall of fame. just last night she was on stage. today she is paying for it. like millions of americans, joyce has a chronic medical condition, hers is lupus. she preps her body for days before performing. her music her only escape and it is how she pays the bills. she still owes $25,000 for her original diagnosis and new bills from her ongoing care are mounting. financially where are you right now? in the hole. i could end up losing my house. reporter: when joyce and millions didn t realize is that over half of the nation s hospitals, the nonprofits, have money that they are required to give back to the community. often through what is called patient assistance programs. michelle katz says it is hidden money too many people don t know