The Doctors Who Bill You While You’re Unconscious
A fifth of U.S. patients get surprise bills from surgery—even if their surgeon and hospital are in-network.
Let’s say you need to get minor surgery, such as repairing some torn knee cartilage. If you have insurance, you would probably call the hospital or your insurer ahead of time to be sure that the hospital was “in network” with your insurance. If you’re extra savvy, you might double-check that the surgeon who will be operating on you is in-network, too.
, you might think. You reason that you won’t face any unexpected charges beyond your insurance’s co-pay, because the point of an insurance network is to funnel you to doctors and hospitals that your insurance will cover. But in fact, it’s more
