Critical data item. Hospitals quote a different price for an insured person than an uninsured person — because the insurance companies tell them NO! The hospitals, when they get an uninsured person, use it to try to make up for indigents they must treat.
He needs absolutely to say he is insured. Simply doing that will cut that price. And above all — tell him do NOT put it on a credit card, nor his wife-to-be. Let the situation get complex for the hospital, with him being a Brit.
That hasn't been my experience, though it is limited.
I had knee surgery a couple of years ago, and was uninsured/self-pay. I received a 40%+ reduction in the cost of services, but had to pay upfront.
The same thing happens for all my normal doctor's visits.
I would imagine that if you are uninsured and make no provisions for payment, the cost you will be quoted for non-emergency treatment would be exorbitant, as you suggest.
This is absolutely not true! And if any hospital or clinic ever does it, that is against the law, so report them to the Federal Medicare program immediately!
There is a huge misnomer out there that hospitals charge different amounts to different people. They can not do that, unless they are not contracted Medicare providers. There is in the law, that every person must be charged the same amount. Where the confusion is, is that although they may not bill different amounts, they can collect different amounts.
If they accept Medicare, they have to accept Medicares fees. They also have the ability to negotiate fees with other insurances. So the end result is that the self pay patient is probably the only one that pays the full amount. The rest is written off.
I encourage every patient that has no insurance to go into the billing office of their physician or hospital, and ask if they would be willing to take the Medicare rate for their bill. Many places will, or at least will be willing to offer some other discount.
The dirty little secret is that the Federal government has made it illegal for the hospital to offer these deals without having the patient request it. You must ask for the help, because they can't give it without being asked, and documenting a "need" on the patients part. Starks laws dictate that a provider can not do anything to "entice" a patient to use their services, and one of the "enticements" is they can not offer to discount, or even write off a bill without being asked!