[tunbgeetf]

€500 is still something many people can pay in Germany, 5k isn't something the average American can foot (with no treatment to boot). It's not at all a comparable complaint.

IIRC an ambulance ride in the US is 10-20k, that's indicative of just how much more medical care costs over there.

[JesseWright]

I have never heard of an ambulance ride costing anywhere _near_ $10K-$20K. The average, out-of-pocket price of an ambulance ride is much closer to $1000 - and often less. New York's 2012 fee schedule offers a good example: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/fdny/downloads/pdf/about/fee-sch...

[Arnt]

Sure, there's an extra digit. Much US healthcare seems to suffer from Extra Digit Syndrome.

What might be similar that the billable item is not the costly item. Of course I don't know the first thing about US health care costs (as opposed to billable items).