A friend of mine lives in So Cal and recently was diagnosed with ulcers. He had the tests and they decided that he needed treatment. Bill $60,000 for the hospital stay, operation, after care and tests.
He thought fuck that it's a rip off, so he flew to England and as a UK citizen he is entitled to free medical care. Had the tests, operation, stay, after care and he flew back recently for a follow up examination.
Total costs two return flight tickets to the UK costing $1,000 each = $2,000.
The care and attention he got was excellent.
He recently got the bill from the hospital for the tests. $100,000. They charged him more for the tests than they quoted for the treatment. Now they discover the tests were a lot more expensive than they originally thought. He has told them to
UK health care is not free. someone pays for it. They also pay for a bloated administration system, what they don't pay for is rip off merchants who are there to fleece you for as much as they can get.