Woke up nauseaous, vomited about five times, and the last one included blood so I went to the emergency room. I spoke to a doctor for less than five minutes and received no imaging. There was one routine blood draw and an IV with saline and Zofran.
God damn America. $3042 to walk in the door. I could have literally flown back to England and been seen at an NHS hospital for a 5th of the cost.
I got an EKG before a surgery one time. I didn't have insurance at the time of the EKG so it was going to be self-pay (got insured before the actual surgery inshallah). Got the EKG, went out to the front desk and after a minute I was told my bill would be $1200. I told the receptionist that I was self pay and asked if there was perhaps a price break, so she went back to speak to the Dr. When she came back she told me he was shocked to see the price the hospital was charging for an EKG, that he didn't know it was that much (wtf) and he used his discretion to slash the price to $500 out the door.
In closing, fuck the american medical system where doctors have no idea what they're charging for shit and also have the ability to wave the price away like a magic wand if they feel like it.