Insurance companies make contracts with hospitals and doctors. For each procedure, there is an official price, and then there is a lower price that the hospital (etc.) has agreed to accept from the insurance company.

In other words, the official price means nothing, and the hospitals know this. So when you are a self-paying patient, the hospital will often give you a discount, so you don't end up paying the fake, inflated price; instead, you pay what the insurance company pays.

So the official cost of your scan may be $1250, but the insurance company doesn't pay that much.

Abby