And when you look at the random bills that even insured people get hit with, it's not hard to see how this can happen. I have a friend who broke an ankle slipping on her frozen driveway during the seven-month ice storm people in New York call a "winter." She was insured with an 80/20 plan, but still received a bill for around $6,000. This month, I got a letter from my own insurance company arguing that a single blood test I got back in March wasn't "medically necessary" and warning me that I might have to cough up the full price. How much was the full price of that single blood test? Just 5,000 freakin' dollars. Luckily nothing came of it, because otherwise I would have had to dip pretty deep into my weekly writer's salary.
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It's so embarrassing when you're at the local writer's club and can't afford to tip the valet.
These incredibly high and apparently random medical costs get even more ridiculous when you consider that ...