I've been working in the ER and it's crazy how much waste goes on there.

Chest pain that's obviously musculoskeletal in nature? Chest X-ray

Saw a 57 year old woman with abdominal pain receive a pregnancy test (not that pricey but still).

Patient with some nausea and vomiting, maybe a few episodes of diarrhea. We diagnosed him with gastroenteritis (stomach bug but not influenza) but not before sending him into the diagnosis machine and giving him a CT scan.

A lot of these tests become second nature in the ER because they are readily available and you don't want to miss anything terrible. At the and time, they're a huge drain on resources, especially in this county hospital system only serving indigent patients.

Oh another aspect of our nearly free or very inexpensive hospital is the amount of people coming from all over to receive care. We regularly see people come from Africa and South of the border and within a week they're at our hospital. They come to receive free American healthcare and the hospital won't turn them away. I can only imagine how much money would be spent treating the world if America went full socialized medicine.