it was only 3k though after everything was said and done. not as much scratch as the title is posted. yes the original charges pre insurance are ridiculous but thats everything.
Why do we do this? (I'm just as guilty as anyone, btw, not calling out you specifically.)
Why do we acknowledge that the system is totally broken, then shrug and say, "Medical prices sure are weird, nothing we can do."
It seems pretty rare to see the conversation turn towards, "It was only 3k after everything, but the original prices were way out of line with what they should have been. We should really try to fix that."
I hope it's clear that I'm not choosing a side here, I'm simply discussing your question - why do we do that?
It continues because 1) Having absurd prices is not illegal. Of course absurd prices are usually self-correcting. 2) It's politically infeasible to fix this because it means "someone" (aka the government) has to mandate what the prices should be.