The worst kind of surprise.

The kind you open in the mail detailing the thousands you owe in out-of-pocket expenses after you deliberately sought in-network healthcare. This analysis of claims data on nearly 350K patients undergoing elective procedures at in-network facilities with in-network surgeons reports over 1 in 5 still accrued out-of-network bills, most commonly due to a surgical assistant or anesthesiologist being out-of-network. If this sounds infuriating, you better check the party line of your specialty’s PAC before reaching out to a local legislator. | Chhabra, JAMA Netw Open 2020