[rayiner]

That phenomenon isn't unique to medical procedures. The answer to the question "how much is this lawsuit/software project/renovation going to cost?" is almost never going to be a definite number. (It's no surprise that people complain about bills in all these areas. But it's not your contractor's fault that your subfloor rotted and his $X quote for re-tiling now needs to include $Y for replacing the subfloor.)

[sevensor]

But the contractor will at least give you an estimate and say, "this job will cost $2200 unless your subfloor is rotted out." And they can at least give you a verbal estimate of how much more it would cost if the subfloor is rotten. In the last year, I've dealt with this exact situation --- linoleum replacement with rotted subfloor. I'll take contractors over the medical industry any day for pricing transparency.