Hospital Bill Shock

Yesterday, I received a summary of charges from Laurel Regional Hospital for my 1 day and 19 hour stay. I confess I am truly stunned by what my short hospitalization cost. My semi-private room cost $633 a day! I have never stayed in a more expensive place in my life. The IVs and antibiotics they gave me cost a whopping $2,100! My chest x-rays were a bargain at $153. The ultra-sound they used to determine I had gall stones cost a respectable $306. I got out cheap on the heart monitoring equipment. That only cost $19. The entire bill came to a mind-boggling $5,876! Next time, I get really sick, I'll tell them to take me to Walter Reed Army Hospital or Bethesda Naval Hospital. I had no idea civilian healthcare cost so much. Thankfully, the Air Force offered me a very good retiree medical health plan. If my understanding is right, my part of the bill will be just $50. If that is the case, I'm going to write an extreme thank you note to Federal Health Services. I'll also count my blessings that I did make the Air Force a career. I enjoyed my time in the service and it looks like I'll enjoy my life as a military retiree thanks to the service. I'll definitely have a lot more peace of mind since I won't have to worry about catastrophic medical bills.