At Target, a single lorazepam pill costs about 14 cents. The Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles sells them for $20, and doesn't tell you that until you get the bill.
From LA Times:
The hospital's insurance claim shows that it charged about $232 for the blood-pressure exam and $19.54 for the pill. The bulk of the bill — $1,700 — was for just setting foot in the emergency room.
The average registered nurse makes $26.66 an hour, according to PayScale.com. It's hard to see how that jibes with charging $232 for a blood-pressure exam that couldn't have taken more than a few minutes.
Jerry Flanagan, staff attorney with the Santa Monica advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, says this common practice is "straight-up profiteering."
Image: "If our doctors don't kill you our bill will." Shutterstock
