My comments to patients as far as the two year interval include....
"I am human, and make mistakes...if I miss something on your mammogram, do you want it to grow for one year or two before we find it"
"Your insurance only pays every other year? Hmmm, how much does it cost to do your nails, hair, go to dinner, shoes... (you get the picture). Cutting out one of those will help pay for your mammogram... especially with the October discounts. Whose life is it? Yours or your insurance company's?"
And my favorite, because we have gotten a bit paranoid about our breasts.... "You smoke and you are in my office crying about a cyst???!!!! When are you going to quit" That usually cuts through the crying and gets me a blank stare... "How do you know I smoke" "Duh, you reek!. Tobacco related illness kills more women than breast cancer." Moral of the story... get your mammograms, pay attention to your breast health, but don't go overboard and be overly dramatic or histrionic 
I am fortunate in that I can go and get my mammograms done relatively cheaply despite the insurance. Most of my care happens outside of my "coverage area" so I am used to out of pocket expenses. Plus the added benefit that I frequently volunteer t be a "Guinea Pig" for new machines that have been placed in facilities that I do business with. I completely agree with you Rosa; I see so many people that will pay to "look pretty" or for sports entertainment, but do not want to pay for anyone or anything that can save their lives. It always amazes me when I see a patient roll up in a brand new auto and then tell my staff that "I cannot afford my copay."
But you know what, that $700 charge sounds wrong. I would fight that if I were you. Whether performed at a hospital or not, breast ultrasound is an outpatient procedure. There may be some differences in price between the clinics and hospital (I work at both), but not to the tune of $700!!!!
Agree, and I did try to fight it with my insurance, but because I went through the "enrollment" procedures, I was checked in (had the ID bracelet and everything). Then discharged about 1.5 hours later. The enrollment process itself took at least 1/2 an hour. Horrible situation, and I complained to my Dr. who didn't do anything either. So, I found another place via a health fair at my workplace. Told one of the staff about my scenario and she gave me a card to a place that does mammos and ultrasounds all the time. In fact, once I had a mammo in a conference room at work via these people! They brought a portable device...how convenient!
Ultrasounds performed at facilities other than office tend to be 2-3 times more expensive that an office setting. If the balance due is applied to a deductible most places will not negotiate with you since that is dollars that would have been in the door; therefore they are wanting their money/dollars from you; hence paying the deductible.
If it is a "non-covered service" or self-pay you can try contacting the facility and see if they will negotiate the rate down. Most of the time if a facility is participating with Medicare they cannot reduce the price lower than the Medicare allowable rate. This is also the same for the physicians reading the images. Most of the time arrangements can be made. Some are more strict than others; but it does not hurt to try.
In my locale a service that we provide in the office is almost always 3 times cheaper than the Hospital setting; whether it is inpatient or outpatient. Insurances typically allow a higher rate of reimbursement to a Hospital than a physician office. A nuclear stress test in my office at it's highest cost is $1500.00 and at the local Hospital is can be as high as $6000.00. However; the hospital will accept an order for some diagnostic testing, including mammograms, and offer discounts, especially in October for mammos, at a much lower rate for self pay.
