In the Bay Area: - A 10 min visit to a specialist office, where I was seen by a nurse practitioner who was able to refer me to an exam without involving the ma

In the Bay Area: - A 10 min visit to a specialist office, where I was seen by a nurse practitioner who was able to refer me to an exam without involving the main physician, costed $800 (just the visit, not the followup exam), which also went through deductible. - A routine colonoscopy came at $19k with bills that kept coming for the next 6-12 months from various parties. Consumed my deductible in one shot as the first bill came. - A visit to the ER that lasted 10 mins with an XRay costed me $5k, also sent in tranches for the next 6 months, to the point where I thought I was victim of some scam (I wasn’t). Maxed my deductible as well. I have a couple non-critical health concerns right now I’d like to consult a doctor about, but I won’t drop another huge deductible just for that. I am a dual citizen from a European country with a high quality healthcare public system (but admittedly longer waits than the US ). I’m not eligible for it since I’m not a resident anymore (I will when/if I move back), but as I went visiting family I booked a private appointment with a well known cardiologist and he spent a good 50 minutes with me, for a total of EUR 100.