My employer is changing our benefits to something very much like what you seem to be going through. I have to pay 100% of all medical costs out of pocket until I hit $2,000. Then, I have to pay 20% of all medical costs until I hit my annual deductible of $5,000. Only after that will my employer pay for any remaining medical costs I incur over the course of a year. I've been having panic attacks over it because $2,000 doesn't seem like a lot of money in the grand scheme of things but it's money I don't have all at once. I know I probably pay that much and more over the course of a year but it's in $15 increments (co-pays) and I can usually scrape that together every week.

I want to get the courage to talk to my doctor about trying to go sliding scale but a: I don't know if I'm allowed to do that and still go through my crummy insurance and b: I'm scared he'll say no and I'll lose my only source of support.