I was once in a hospital )about 20 years ago) and I complained of a headache so the nurse offered a Tylenol. It did little to help. But then when I got an itemized bill, it turned out that one Tylenol tablet cost $18.00. Yes, you can go to your supermarket and probably buy over 1,000 Tylenols for the cost of this one pill at the hospital.
But, of course, you're not allowed to bring in your own meds.
The reason that tylenol tablet costs $18.00 is that the hospital is having to recover the cost for all kinds of extra services, from the extra labor required for the nurse to document to the government’s approval that they gave you the correct medicine and dosage at the right time, to that fancy facility, to chaplain services, to all the free care that they have to give at the government’s directive that the government doesn’t pay for.
The reason that tylenol tablet costs $18.00 is that the hospital is having to recover the cost for all kinds of extra services, from the extra labor required for the nurse to document to the government’s approval that they gave you the correct medicine and dosage at the right time, to that fancy facility, to chaplain services, to all the free care that they have to give at the government’s directive that the government doesn’t pay for.