I just paid $106 for a liter of saline solution at Mayo. For a cupful of common salts and water.
Here we go boys and girls, Uncle Sugar is in charge of your health and the insurance for it, ain’t it great!
At least at the Mayo they have the expertise to correct the situation for their patients if things get very bad. My brother’s sister was a nurse at Methodist Hospital for 50 years and how she describes what nursing was like when she first started is amazing. Hospitals used to make their own saline solutions. It is possible, but it just takes an innovative mindset, which is still very present at the Mayo. (I say that as a recent patient there.)
The barium shortage is another situation all together. I had to have a shallow test a couple months ago and was told that the attendants were being very, very careful to use the least amount as necessary due to the shortage. However, as a patient, I thought that probably was a good thing to only have to be exposed to the least amount.