&gt;the difference between what they charged me and what they would have charged an insurance company was obscene<p>Those numbers you see are entirely imaginary.<p>Insurance companies don&#x27;t pay them, individuals don&#x27;t pay them, they&#x27;re just artificially inflated prices used for negotiation.<p>They give a significant discount to people without insurance.  Insurance companies individually negotiate (significant) discounts to this base price.  It&#x27;s inflated to make people think they&#x27;re getting a better discount.