A friend just got out of 8-1/2 hours of cancer surgery

[Hamlette]

5. Must read article about cost of hip replacement in Belgium $13,000 vs USA $100,000

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/health/for-medical-tourists-simple-math.html?pagewanted=all

he ultimately chose to have his hip replaced in 2007 at a private hospital outside Brussels for $13,660. That price included not only a hip joint, made by Warsaw-based Zimmer Holdings, but also all doctors’ fees, operating room charges, crutches, medicine, a hospital room for five days, a week in rehab and a round-trip ticket from America. . . .

Makers of artificial implants — the biggest single cost of most joint replacement surgeries — have proved particularly adept at commanding inflated prices, according to health economists. Multiple intermediaries then mark up the charges. While Mr. Shopenn was offered an implant in the United States for $13,000, many privately insured patients are billed two to nearly three times that amount. . . . (for the artificial hip only, did not cover hospital or doctor)

An artificial hip, however, costs only about $350 to manufacture in the United States,

The article goes on to explain how/who the artificial hip costs so much in the US. It will make you furious. I have an artificial hip, it cost $3,000 in 1995 (plus doctor and hospital costs for a total of probably $20-30K...I don't remember. It would now be well over $100K and you are only in the hospital for 2 days.)