healthcare insurance is the best example of a state-sponsored scam I've ever seen.. and it just continues unabated. I can guarantee that almost no one involved in that transaction actually knows what the per-unit cost for a 1 hour ultrasound actually is.. and when I say 'cost', I mean how it costs the hospital. Health insurers, hospitals, doctors are so awash in money they probably can't believe they're still getting away with it after all this time. Just look at all of the new hospitals and care facilities that are getting built. You don't do that if you're 'squeaking by'.. Hospital lobby is full of shit. You can probably trace all of this back to the HMO model where insurers began to add a lot of distance between the caregivers (i.e. doctors, hospitals, etc) and the patients. Like wall street did (with basically every financial instrument), they add layer upon layer to the cost chain, which adds an equivalent number of money-takers, to the value proposition. Insurance companies amortize the total cost across their subscriber base and 'poof', you've got our ever increasing health premiums. Just ridiculous and so obvious.. but since they're 'doctors' and 'care givers', we automatically just assume they're not motivated by profit and therefore beyond reproach...um, wrong.