> You can’t do anything unless it’s exactly how insurance wants and only for what insurance will pay.

This is the part that makes the whole experience so sadly ridiculous. Nobody could ever tell patients what something might cost and let them make choices, it was (and is) "Sign here to acknowledge you'll ultimately be responsible for all charges, no matter what they turn out to be." But the insurance company doesn't operate like that, they say "Want to be part of our network? Guess what, you have to ask us for permission or we just won't pay you."

We need to rip off the bandaid, as it were, and reboot the damn system. Pick one of any number of good examples from other modern industrialized nations that have functioning healthcare, and copy it. Yes, everything will be a zoo for a while. We'll survive, and maybe even come out the other side with a better system. And maybe some bankrupt insurance companies, let me find my handkerchief.