Ever wonder why hospital bills are absolutely crazy? Here's something that should get people talking: hospitals straight-up inflate their charges based on what they think insurance companies will actually pay. It's not a secret—it's just how the system works.

This kind of pricing game is exactly why healthcare costs have spiraled into absurdity. When providers can essentially make up numbers knowing insurance will negotiate them down, you get this weird dynamic where the sticker price becomes meaningless. Patients with no insurance? They often end up paying closer to those inflated rates. Those with coverage? The system just shifts costs around.

The whole thing creates perverse incentives. Hospitals optimize for what insurers will approve, not for actual value or efficiency. It's a broken feedback loop—and regular people end up footing the bill through higher premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs.

Until the pricing becomes transparent and providers compete on actual value, don't expect these costs to come back down to earth. The current system rewards obfuscation, not efficiency.