bstenman:

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I had chest pains and went to the local hospital where I was given an aspirin and had an EKG run. I was there for 6 hours in total and the bill was $3200.

My NA on both hands was done by Dr. Denkler in the SF Bay area and the cost was $1100 in total.

My first series of XRT was done in Essen and as a non-German citizen I paid 400 Euros or about $550 US at the time. My second set of treatments was done at a teaching hospital in San Francisco and the cost was over $8000.

Any procedure done at a hospital is going to cost at least 50% more if not double or triple what it would be at a doctor's office. Problem for me is that my insurance will not cover any procedures not done at a hospital. Go figure.

Anyone who thinks that healthccare costs are outrageous in the US would do well to not vote for Republicans who want to take away the tiny bit of health care insurance reform that was recently passed and takes effect in 2014.