Patrick Quigley s aha moment came after an MRI exam.
After submitting an insurance claim, Quigley was still left with a $1,300 bill. A few months later, he needed an MRI again. He arrived at the same facility, underwent the same procedure but, this time, offered to pay with his debit card, thinking it might be more convenient than dealing with the bureaucracy around his high-deductible insurance plan. The secretary told him the cash price for the service was just $330. This was a huge wake-up call for me, Quigley said.
Healthcare systems often prefer cash-pay because it cuts the administrative burden of dealing with prior authorization, billing and other bureaucratic aspects of the insurance experience, said Aaron Miri, chief information officer at UT Austin Medical School. A 2019 study by Vanderbilt University found providers will cut their prices by up to 40% for patients who pay with cash.