Allowed Amount Higher Than Billed Amount

Hello,

We had to take our daughter to the urgent care when she had the stomach flu because she did not improved after 24 hours. They refused to treat her and ushered us to the ER. So now we have a massive ER bill for a stomach flu.

We received the bill from the ER and the EOB from insurance. I couldn't help but notice the "plan discount" was a negative number. Looking closer, the ER billed an amount, but the "allowed amount" is higher, so the "discount" is negative and the ER billed us the higher amount. I called the insurance company and they said even though the hospital billed X, the negotiated amount is Y so they can instead charge us Y. I have a high deductible plan and haven't met the deductible so I'm stuck with this entire bill.

Is this correct? Can the provider bill insurance one amount, then when the insurance says they can charge more they can just instead charge us the higher bill for the heck of it?

Thanks

submitted by /u/flynryan692
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