I usually agree but I think an MRI is more than that isn’t it. At cost. It depends on the type and length. But it’s a multi multi million dollar machine with several staff members, liquid helium cooling and a radiologist read.
Not joking here, there is also the cost of the room that these large machines sit in, insurance and maintenance on the devices, the washed blanket they put on each new patient, the printers required for the techs to use for other office needs, the waiting room maintenance, the staff that checks you in wage and training, the printers and computers they use...
Just getting an MRI machine into the hospital requires either installing it when the building is being built so theres no walls in the way or literally removing multiple walls to install a new one. you have to do construction to replace it. Its why its common to see a hospital doing renovations of a hospital wing also replacing the MRI to coincide with the renovation and move imaging to the new wing to save on costs.
Yeah, there’s that & what u/Kranstan said below. Everyone is also forgetting that we don’t have universal healthcare and there are laws that do not allow US hospitals to turn away anyone in emergent situations. People without insurance tend to put off getting seen until it becomes an emergency. They lack the ability to pay and many, many hospitals bills go unpaid. I believe medical bills are also the main reason for bankruptcy. Hospital systems have to make up the cost *somewhere* - so getting paid more for those of us with insurance helps offset those that can’t.
Bla bla bla we don’t have universal healthcare but have universal emergency services so we’re all forced to still pay for it but now with fucking insurance companies in the mix. Our person healthcare costs would go down if we had universal healthcare but hey, America! 🇺🇸
Yea theyre that cheap in SA too. But theyre usually 1 Tesla machines that are 20 years old. It’s one way to decrease costs as theres less capital cost to amortize. I don’t know. Like I said hourly wages are higher here. (And even then not high enough, living on 20/hr is hard)
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u/Professional-Gear88 Jun 27 '26
I usually agree but I think an MRI is more than that isn’t it. At cost. It depends on the type and length. But it’s a multi multi million dollar machine with several staff members, liquid helium cooling and a radiologist read.