Folks, it is your health insurance plan’s job to negotiate the lowest possible reimbursement rates with your health care providers. I get that you think they’re wonderful, but that doesn’t mean they deserve a blank check with your signature at the bottom!
And yes — that is your signature on that check. Because those reimbursements are funded through the premiums that you (and in many cases your employer) pay. Higher reimbursements equal higher premiums. The math on that is actually pretty simple.
By Federal Law, your health insurer has a restricted profit margin. They are not allowed to set rates for unlimited profits. And they don’t, not from altruism, but because the fines and penalties are high enough to get their attention. (That’s the part of the ACA you don’t hear about very often.)