If people wanted to be treated using the same methods, equipment, and training they had in 1950, I’m sure costs would be a lot cheaper.
You mean way back then when nurses really did nursing, cleaning people really cleaned, and even a patient who was totally out of it would have their sheets changed as many times a day as necessary and would be bathed daily.
Today, if you have a loved one who can't speak for himself in the hospital, you better be there to speak for him or he will be ignored. Technology aside, hospital care today is pitiful compared to the past.
Actually the methods and equipment and training to do an appendectomy have not changed all that much. The real problem is insurance coverage and lawsuits by ambulance chasers and the way in which these have encouraged hospitals and doctors to charge whatever the market will bear. If your garbage collectors are assured that the fees they charge you are covered by someone else then they will quickly figure out that it is in their best interest to raise rates because there is no more competitive pressure from customers because the customers never directly pay the bill.