In theory you either have insurance that should cover this (more than 90% of Americans are covered), or else you'd be too poor to really even be able to afford

In theory you either have insurance that should cover this (more than 90% of Americans are covered), or else you'd be too poor to really even be able to afford such an operation or medical care. The system sucks, but I don't think the way the system is set up would cause a significant number of people to use free research for medical alternatives.