been my exp. that the numbers mean very little unless it's the final bill and your paying.

  for instance the 30,000..  Not knowing any particulars I would break it down this way..   30,000 bill sent to insurance company... Ins. company has set rate for everything.The may have paid 15,000. but I doubt it. More like 10. The remainder if insurance didn't cover it would be billed to the person who was ill. If he has full coverage he doesn't have to pay anything but they will send it enough that some folks decide to pay. great.

   No insurance, it can be negotiated down. generally to what insurance would pay. Problem is nobody knows exactly what that is.The insurance and hospitals keep that a tightly held secret. Lastly when the hopspital wants to keep it's non-profit staus they need a lot of inflated invoices. This shows how much they are giving away. All the while not giving away much.  

   Clear as mud, just how they all like it.  No wonder they don't want things to change. I am not for full blown free health care, think it will cause to many problems down the road. What I would like to see is the numbers that are finally settled on by Insurance companies and expect no more from the general public.  How do you even start to get some kind of health care plan when the numbers are so volatile.