[JeffR]

Don't feel too bad I don't think you would have found the U.S. surgeries outside your area to be cost competitive with Europe.

The hospital fees alone in my quote the Texas Back Institute for a three level were $45,000 and my total quote of $78,000 only included a two night hospital stay. For Europe I could have the whole procedure for less than the hospital fees in the U.S. plus I get _5_ nights in the hospital and other things like physio and revision insurance.

I realize that Harrison thinks the U.S. is a viable option, and for people who have local experienced doctors with one level degenerated it may be, but when you crunch the numbers Europe just makes a whole lot of sense. Part of the problem with the U.S. system is the ridiculous charges various providers make to each other. I had a discogram done through TBI for $3,000. Which was a lot but it wasn't killer. When I got invoiced the anesthesiologist tried to charge me $17,000 for 1/2 general anesthetic - when I called them up they said it was their standard rate (I won in the end BTW and only paid the $1,500 that I owed them). It's just crazy...