Pediatric Circumcision Surgery

So my son requires circumcision for medical reasons. The term used in his paperwork is "congenital abnormality of the penis". I'm not sure how the insurance company treats this. I haven't been able to find any documentation about coverage. Everything in my benefits just refers to in network or out of network.

I got a call from the hospital today and was told that my cost from them, which must be paid prior to the surgery is around $6,600. They offered options one of which is to pay in full now for 20% off. The other options involve paying a percentage and then doing payment plans.

I have never done anything like this before, but with the cost I'm being told it sounds like insurance is not contributing at all. I have a high deductible insurance with $5k deductible per person and out of pocket max of $13,700. I researched the typical cost of this procedure in my area and it looks like the estimate is $2.5k-4k. That's certainly much less than $6k. My insurance website has a tool that allows me to see estimated costs and it suggested two facilities, both less than $2k.

Is my total so high because insurance isn't covering the procedure or is it maybe because it's out of network? I don't understand any of this at all so I don't even know how to find out. If the issue is that it's out of network then I don't think that I have any options. All of the facilities that are showing as "in network" are adults only. This includes the facilities that showed estimates for less than $2k. Insurance is saying that my son is eligible but the facilities themselves do not take children.

Where do I even start to try to bring these cost down? I've heard of negotiating bills and I'm sure that I can do that with the hospital but I want to understand more. Should I be trying to fight the insurance company first?

submitted by /u/Alternative_Bit_5433
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