The whole point is that $19k is not even close to the cost of doing stitches for a kid. It's a simple procedure that takes half an hour of doctor's work and the

The whole point is that $19k is not even close to the cost of doing stitches for a kid. It's a simple procedure that takes half an hour of doctor's work and the same from some assistant; if you need a million-dollar-per-year specialist for that, even then their work costs less than a $1000; double it for overhead/facilities and youŗe at $2k (instead of $19k) for a very conservative estimate (private nonsubsidised facilities in high cost of life parts of Europe would offer to do for much less for uninsured foreign patients and still make a healthy profit on that). $19k represents a ridiculously inflated markup that's not even in the ballpark of what the costs are, even in USA. Things like liability insurance etc add some extra costs, but not nearly enough so that tenfold increase would make any sense.