Fixed-benefit plans
The plan pays a set amount for a service. The hospital charge can be higher than that fixed payment.
A fixed-benefit plan, including many limited and MEC-style arrangements, pays a scheduled amount for a service. It is not the same as a major-medical deductible. The hospital’s charge can be larger than the scheduled payment, and the remainder can be yours unless a discount or assistance policy says otherwise.
Read the schedule for the service on the bill, then read the explanation of benefits for the amount the plan actually paid. Those are different documents. The figure review checks the hospital’s arithmetic. It does not guess the schedule.
Ask the hospital for an itemized bill and for any self-pay or prompt-pay discount before you set up a plan based on the full charge.