CT scan machines cost a few million and require special training to use. While $5k is too high the system is set up to appease the insurance industry.
The insurance industry marks the $5k down to about $400 depending on the policy. Most plans used to pay that.
A couple years ago I got very sick and spent 8 days in intensive care. The bill was $185,000 and it saved my life.
You could go to Canada where the CT scan is cheap but you wait 18 months for it. Thats always an option.
to go to canada I need a passport....use to cross to canada all the time for slots and bingo. Not since the laws were changed.++++++When the bills started coming in you could have a company put them in a binder, it looked like a book with so many pages. But the cat scan proved one thing, I DO have a brain irreguardless of what people say...:O)
It’s all about attributing overhead, and that’s all it’s about.
Look: I live in the woods. If I wake up at 0200 with chest pain, I dial 9-1-1 and within 20 minutes there’s a mobile coronary care unit in my driveway. Inside is a trained PA and an uplink to a heart station. The PA gives me drugs that probably stop me from dying on the spot. They roll.
I arrive at the heart center at 0315 where I’m met by an interventional cardiologist and his team (6 people). I’m on the table at 0340. If the study shows surgery is needed, by 0530 the cardiothoracic team is assembled (15 people) and I’m revascularized before the sun comes up.
Now, if the chest pain was just a bad dream, all those people are still getting paid and all that technology is still being paid for.
Multiply that by 365, spread it out over all the air casts and aspirins, and it really adds up.