[andruby]

> Take a guess what Medicaid pays for a labor epidural for a pregnant mother, which involves putting a very large needle next to a woman's spinal cord, with possible complications of paralysis, death, headache, back pain, infection, failure of epidural, etc?

I've looked up the price and for one hospital in Belgium [0]. The rates, including the room you stay in, are:

Uninsured: €140~€420 Insured: €17~€200 Insured with low income: €10~€190

The large variation is due to shared common room vs single personal room.

An epidural really shouldn't be insanely expensive. Of course, exposure to litigation and risk for the doctor is much lower here.

[0] https://www.azdelta.be/nl/patient/wat-het-u-zal-kosten/prijs... (in dutch)