john smith wrote:
Insurance paid $3700, we owe $1200 (20% of the total bill).

You could also have elected to buy a more expensive policy that covered
more, you selected a policy that paid 80% based on the cost of the
policy and what you would get for it. Personally, I just carry a
catastrophic policy and pay everything out of pocket with pre-tax
dollars using an HSA. I'm saving a ton of money over my previous PPOs
and HMOs and if I ever do get really sick, the catastrophic policy
kicks in.

-Robert