I&#x27;m not an expert on this, but google searches yield the following prices for various medical undertakings in US Dollars:<p>----<p>MRI: ~$2.5k<p>Laparoscopic surgery: $2k -$5k<p>One day of hospital inpatient care: ~$2.2k<p>Heart bypass: ~$100k<p>3 months chemotherapy: $20k-$30k<p>----<p>I&#x27;ll let you judge for yourself whether these are outrageous and crippling or not.<p>I&#x27;ll only add that, from my limited experience here in CT, the hospital will waive most of your bill if you show financial need.  I&#x27;m not sure if the state picks up the tab or if the hospital just eats the cost when this happens, but I&#x27;ve seen the waiving of medical fees firsthand.<p>I have no experience with the big expensive ones like chemo or heart bypass.