Two words: balance billing. When I broke my leg, ...

Two words: balance billing. When I broke my leg, I went to U of U Hospital not knowing that they were not in my insurance network. My insurance worked with me since it was an emergency situation. The problem was with the U of U. If you're not familiar with balance billing, it's when a health care provider charges more than what your health insurance company determines is a reasonable charge. It doesn't count toward your health care deductible or your max out of pocket through insurance. It's illegal in a lot of states, but not in Utah. Not every hospital will charge it, as it negatively affects those of us responsible enough to have insurance and put money aside for deductibles, but U of U aggressively pursues balance billing. In my case, they were charging more than double what my insurance company indicated was a reasonable charge, to the tune of thousands of dollars. They'll just charge whatever they want and will back that up with letters from the Utah Attorney General and a threat of state tax liens.

I graduated from the U. While I will always cheer for my beloved Utes, I won't ever give a penny to the U of U. You can't treat your alumni like that and then ask for more money. And I realize our healthcare system is broken. Those who can pay through insurance pay inflated prices to cover the people who can't pay (but don't call it socialized medicine). But any health care provider that practices balance billing is absolutely part of the problem.