I think there are perverse incentives at work, too. If running the MRI machine cost $100, people would do it. If it can bill insurance $100k, and then any follow up might cost $500k, there is a rational aversion to doing it as it might make the _system_ less good for everyone if insurance cracked down on exploratory imaging as a billable thing (obviously, they already do this to some extent).

Better technology is unlikely to be cheaper, unless it is so new and novel that it can get its own unique billing codes, and if it becomes ubiquitous so it cheaper and more available than existing machines which are not yet depreciated.

Just typing that out depresses me.