Here's a great example of discounts for medical services when one has health insurance. http://www.aetna.com/provider/data/ProviderNetwork.pdf . Sure it's an Aetna example, but it translates to other carriers as well. Basically when a provider agrees to join an insurance network, they also agree to the fee schedule. So a $150 list price office visit, gets discounted to $90. And a five-day hospital stay gets reduced from $25,000 to $8750. However, if your deductible is say $3000, you are only out of pocket $3000 on a 100% coinsurance plan.