The U.S. healthcare system is built around the idea that everyone has health insurance. Obviously, that's not a valid assumption at all, which is one of many reasons why it's such a problem.
Insurance companies each negotiate a rate for various services with hospitals. People pay different rates depending on the insurance they have, due to these different negotiated rates.
This creates a perverse incentive where hospitals want to list their "cash" price as being higher than the negotiated rates, otherwise insurance companies will come back to negotiate their rates down to the obviously lower cash price.
In reality, it's usually surprisingly easy to get hospitals to give significant discounts if you tell them you're without insurance and you'll be paying in cash. Patients without insurance can often negotiate their bills down to a fraction of the original list price by simply calling in and telling the billing office they don't have insurance.
Insurance companies each negotiate a rate for various services with hospitals. People pay different rates depending on the insurance they have, due to these different negotiated rates.
This creates a perverse incentive where hospitals want to list their "cash" price as being higher than the negotiated rates, otherwise insurance companies will come back to negotiate their rates down to the obviously lower cash price.
In reality, it's usually surprisingly easy to get hospitals to give significant discounts if you tell them you're without insurance and you'll be paying in cash. Patients without insurance can often negotiate their bills down to a fraction of the original list price by simply calling in and telling the billing office they don't have insurance.
It's obviously not a great system.