Thanks, very much, Kurt.
No, unfortunately he's not finished with the hospitals.
It seems to me that, perhaps, there is grounds for a billing discrimination case. . .perhaps a class-action suit. (?)
Hospitals charging a disproprortionate amount to the self-insured (medical IRA's and such). Effectively, the hospitals are trying to push people into the insurance industrys product. (and people thought microsoft was unethically pushing internet-explorer.)
Jürgen & dd (thanks!)
On "cash discounts". . .yeah, one would think 'cash is king'. . .well this particular hospital give a 20% discount for cash (payed w/in 30 days) . . .so that means the cash payer is only paying TWICE as much as the govt. or insurance co. bill. (again WTF)
. . not to mention, they bill 30 days later and say "you missed out on that 20% discount."
So really, I'm getting pissed. (this has been festering for a few months, but have been too busy with prior commitments)
Anyway, I'm now ready to play at their level. Any suggestions will be appreciated.