Just a tale from the battlefields of health financing -- After my son had an ordinary tonsilectomy in an outpatient surgical center, in which he spent a total of about 5 hours, we received a bill from the center for $11,500, of which $700 had been paid by our insurance. Huh? It was clearly a bill, which stated repeatedly that we were responsible for the balance, and that we should remit immediately. I called the surgery center and got someone from billing on the phone, who explained to me that in fact I only owed a bit over $500, which was my usual 30 percent out-of-network copay. And the other $10,000 -- well, that was officially the price, but I was not expected to pay it. Bizarre, no? Yet, I suspect that this was a calculated ploy to see if at least a few suckers would pony up rather than fight the bill.