Very sorry to hear about your daughter jgoins. My mother had gall stones and it is a painful painful thing. I am going to have to do some more reading on the details of what the new bill is bringing in. My understanding was that these are the situations it was meant to fix.

I do agree this is a bad time for the US to be spending on a huge health care reform package but I wonder if at any point in the future there will be a better time as the current system seems to be spiraling out of control at a faster an faster rate.

What's sad is that she SHOULD be able to afford coverage because it shouldn't be that expensive. Costs of an MRI vary by 250% state to state in the US. From $1500 to $4000 just by crossing state lines. How can that be? MRIs are all digital now, there are no consumables like film. Even with the cost of the machine there is just no way it should cost that much.

Up here she would be booked in for surgery and getting it done without concern for cost. It's not a stay in a luxury hotel but that gets you a bed in a 4 bed room and the procedure covered. A lot of people up here do carry additional health insurance as well for extras like private rooms, some medications that aren't covered, dental, eyes, etc. but it is optional. Like every system ours is still far from perfect but I am glad it exists.