True but what frustrates me is that actually many of us did not have to pay the full cost since employers provided it as a benefit of employment. That is now going away since the feds have screwed things up.
It is ludicrous for the feds to be lecturing anyone about keeping costs down when the cost of government is skyrocketing and the cost of health care and health care insurance is skyrocketing due to government interference.
The Price went up when the big employers and Medicare started covering everything under the sun, and we the “patient” continue to be left out of any responsibility to care what the price is or even necessity of the medical care we receive. So, up goes the Price. How much does it really ‘cost’ to provide hospital care? You will never find that out— Deep discounts are given to Medicare, Medicaid and many large private insurances, and then the hospitals can declare huge amounts of undercompensated care which helps keep the not-for-profit status. It’s long overdue to let true market forces have a chance. Time for us all to grow up and stop demanding things that won’t help and could hurt. True informed consent is needed, and transparency about potential medical outcomes.