Insurance Made Visit More Expensive

Hello!

I am going through a strange experience and I will try to not get political about it.

I went to the doctor because I was having strange symptoms and I got the care I needed and some medicine to help me recover. Yay!

My bill is usually around $150-$250 because of my copay and high deductible. This time it came in at $350.

I looked at the bill and the bill was originally for $311 before my insurance was run and $349 after it was run. My insurance made the visit more expensive this time. The provider was in-network so I’m not suddenly out-of-network.

I called both the doctor’s office and my insurance. I have been informed that my insurance made an agreement with the office as to the costs of procedures. If those costs are below the agreed price in the original bill then the insurance raises the costs on the bill. I asked the office if they could run the bill again without my insurance to lower the cost and they said they are not legally allowed to do that if I have insurance.

I am not sure what to do. I pay insurance to help me with bills and normally they don’t help much at all. I do have a high deductible so that’s expected but now though they are actively making my bills higher at the doctor’s office themselves.

So I’m paying every month for my health insurance for them to raise the costs of my basic health care visits? I have a PPO with Excellus BCBS. Can I do anything in this situation?