Back in the day, before the evolution of financing everything, you could only charge what something was worth; something was only worth what someone was willing to pay for it, which was usually limited to how much they had. Now you can get whatever you want, just by signing on a line, so they can charge whatever they want, and you'll pay it (some day). Boiled frog, they charge a little more every year, no drastic hikes, and nobody complains much. On top of the evolution of finance is the evolution of insurance. They charge a little more every year for the insurance every year too. Every year the doctors cost more, so your insurance goes up to cover the difference, and in turn the doctors have a little more room to charge a little more, so insurance goes up again, and so forth. In other countries (I will use the Philippines again, as I know what I'm talking about in that country) they are, I'd say, about 50 years behind us in the evolutions of these things. For the most part, things aren't financed. You pay for medical bills out of pocket, and hence the doctors and pharmacies can only charge as much as people keep in their wallets. If you think it's subpar "3rd world" medical care, consider that the Philippines' hottest export to the U.S. is medical professionals. Next time you're in the hospital, look around, count how many filipinos you see. Now, there are some subpar medical institutions there - you have to do your homework before you go somewhere. I've been recommending people go there for medical & dental work; in a lot of cases, it really is more cost effective to fly over there and get your work done.