Oh you can do something. Tell them you expect reasonable charges and you will pay them. If they want to charge you ridiculous amounts of money, tell them to fuck off and they don't get a dime.

My mom got cancer and Dad hadn't signed them up for the doctor part of medicare. So for six months, there was no insurance coverage for the oncologist and she needed treatment desperately. I told the doctors that if they would charge my parents what Medicare would pay if the coverage was in place + their co-payment, I would pay them cash every month for their services. I told them it was not fair to price gouge due to an oversight on my Dad's part, taking advantage of people who can ill afford to pay ridiculous overcharges out of pocket. They agreed to this and she got her treatment.

She was in the hospital and there were tons of doctors involved. I told all of them...adjust your bills down to medicare rates and you will get paid now. Leave them at price gouge rates and you will never get paid. I told them my parents had no assets to attach, a reverse mortgage on their house, etc.

Once people figure out there's no other way to collect, they get super nice about negotiating something reasonable.