The title is somewhat misleading, since it implies the family paid that much. From near the bottom of the article:
>Brigland’s family paid $7,200, their plan’s out-of-pocket maximum.
>Brigland’s family paid $7,200, their plan’s out-of-pocket maximum.
It remains baffling to me that almost any other topic gets attention in this country when we have this problem.
The whole point of society is to share risks and costs that would be difficult or impossible to share alone. When a society doesn't do that, it becomes a degree of a failed state by definition. Anything shared today in America is privatized, eliminated, or disparaged as "communism" by the ignorati and by the greedy rich.
[1] afterwards, the article says they got an additional bill of 11,200 but not sure if they paid it or negotiated something else.