re: #2 EiMitch

Hospital bills are so expensive right now because there is no one entity to oversee checks and balances on their billing practices, for one. Hospital bills for Medicare patients are significantly lower than the bills for for-profit insurance-holders. Insurance companies have little incentive to keep costs low because they can use high costs as an excuse to raise their premiums and skim a little more off the top each time.

When the people’s government has the ability to negotiate on a national scale, hospitals fall in line with appropriate billing practices.