Pam, Orangevale, CA

Pam’s cancer-related reconstructive surgery left her with a $10,000 bill. Her insurance directory showed the surgeon in-network, but didn’t mention that he wasn’t in-network where the procedure was performed.

“If insurance companies are going to provide these (network directories), they need to be valid. I’m in enough of a panic thinking about my health without having to go online and compare costs, and check if providers are in-network.”

Misty and Robert, Charleston, SC

The morning of Misty’s C-Section the couple was told the scheduled anesthesiologist was unavailable. The out-of-network doctor that replaced him charged $15,000.

“We had no option to reschedule. It would have been a risk to the baby’s life,” says Robert. “We had no control over this situation.”

Mike, Grapevine, TX

Mike needed emergency appendectomy surgery and got hit with a $950 bill from an out-of-network surgeon.

“When shopping, you understand the costs up front, and if you don’t like it you go somewhere else. But you can’t do that from the emergency room. Who goes and debates pricing in the emergency room?”