Utter bullshit. I recently had an MRI that cost over $2000, it took all of about 10 minutes. My insurance company decided they would deny the cost and they have another company they hire to deal with the fighting. I spoke with one of their offices that transferred me to two different numbers both of which were not capable of answering my questions. I spoke with Chicago and Atlanta without much help. Now an insurance company and 2 doctors offices and two other nationwide companies were involved. If the federal govt ran that diagnostic center and owned that MRI they could have conducted that test for $50.00 and made a profit. Practically every one of the biggest and most expensive buildings in every one of our major cities is owned by an insurance company. Where the fuck do you think they got all their money? Cutting health insurance out of the picture and hiring doctors to run what doctors should be running would save this country a fucking fortune.
A simple appendectomy in the USA costs about $33,000. It's about $600 in France, $3,500 in Germany and $2,500 in Spain. The reason is we have a monsterous beaurocracy here that must be paid for in addition to hospitals having to charge more to make up for all those patients who don't have a dime or insurance to cover the cost. Get rid of health insurance, get rid of the beaurocracy, and get rid of the majority of malpractice cases and the cost of our healthcare would not only drop radically but be run by those who should be running it and not assholes behind desks worrying about the bottom line. My friend needed surgery so he went to Costa Rica for a month, had the surgery there and stayed in an oceanfront place sitting by the pool enjoying himself. The cost of the entire month was half of just what the surgery would have cost in the USA.