[DFHippie]

I've been in the hospital without insurance. They bill you for gratuitous stuff regardless of whether you have insurance. They don't mention that there will be a bill when they ask if you want your newborn's hearing checked or if you want to try the experimental sap-based wound sealer they happen to have (both things that actually happened). They seem kind and polite. Then they bill you. One doctor looks over another's shoulder for five minutes. They each bill you.

This is in the US, mind you. In fact, both stays were in Nashville, TN, in the early 2000s.