Well the reality is, that the cost is exhorbitant with more serious illness such as in Maya's case and with higher degrees of care. The cost of excellent and extensive care is expensive. Can the cost be tapered down? I think in a way, yes, since often what I see in American medicine is "overcare" and wasteful ordering of some labs, tests, and medicines. I'm not trying to second guess the situation, but if an item by item analysis of cost were done, even with the level of care your wife received, I bet maybe 1/2 to 1/3 of it could likely be trimmed off. In a way the problem with INSURANCE is that it provides a false sense of payability, so run away cost and "overcare" is extremely common. In many respects the presence of third party pay (the current US system) fosters wasteful medical practice, and then..in the final analysis, the expenses are really NOT all paid for. the Insurance companies usually either deny part of the claim(s), pay at their "provider preferred rate" (a much lower rate which THEY feel the cost of care is worth), and the rest of cost is absorbed by the patient, the doctor, the other providers and the hospital (who all have to "write off" amounts they can never hope to collect.

The "solution" to the current way medical business is done in this country is certainly not even vaguely being addressed with the proposed health care bill. All that will happen, is that firstly and once again, Medicare gets slashed ( I mean how much more can you trim the poor thing??), and that everybody gets INSURANCE, which is one of the problems with healthcare in the first place.

If it really is gonna get fixed, it would take many years to look at all of the problems. Half of the doctors need to go back to redo parts of their training, since the way they order certain tests and medications is truly deplorable and thoughtless. Pharmaceutical companies should stop trying to recoup their R and D costs and expensive advertising through increasing med costs. Expensive testing and surgeries should come under greater scrutiny as to their true medical necessity and cost-effectiveness. Some patients need to stop whining and running to the doctor for every ache and pain. People need to stop frivolous law suits. Lawyers by and large need to be shot. But that's just a few suggestions.