If you make a lac/month, surgeries of the sort I've received will be one month of income. In the US, prices will be both higher relative to income and unknown,

If you make a lac/month, surgeries of the sort I've received will be one month of income. In the US, prices will be both higher relative to income and unknown, i.e. the doctor just won't tell you. As for saving, people in the US don't save. And they refuse to spend money on medicine - I know a woman who easily spends $10-20k/year on entertainment, but balked at spending $8k to repair her knee.