It's time for the ol' butt probe (colonoscopy). The anesthesiology medical group at the surgery center where I am going requires patients to sign a waiver that says essentially:

* Full anesthesia is usually not deemed medically necessary for a colonoscopy under your insurance
* We are charging you a discounted amount for the services, which you must pay up front
* We can submit a claim to your insurance company anyway if you want
* If we submit a claim and they deny it, you will already have paid the discounted rate
* If we submit a claim and they pay it, then the fee you paid will be credited toward the payment spelled out on your EOB, which could be lower OR HIGHER than the discounted rate you have paid

Is there any real likelihood that if they submit a claim for me, my insurance could end up paying for it but my portion of the amount could come back HIGHER than the amount the surgery center wants to charge me now? They already know what my co-insurance obligation is and they know what my plan will pay, and they are setting the price. I'm just trying to figure out whether the "be careful, if you don't pay the price we are giving you, you might have to pay more in the end!" is just a scare tactic to try to get people to not make them jump through the pain of submitting a claim. I'm curious what perspective those of you on the provider side have with situations like this.