different patience get different costs based on their insurance. costs are wildly different depending on the location, the provider, etc. a mri at one hospital can cost your $500, at another a mile away it can be $5000.

there really isn't 'flat pricing' in medical care. pricing is basically negotiated for each patient at the time of the procedure, and often retroactively changed.

Last time I was in, the provider recommended I get a specific blood test. I asked her if she, or someone at the office, could find out approximately how much that was going to cost me out of pocket. It was around a 30 to 45 minute circus show of a process and at the end, the best they could tell me was "this test is usually in the $800 to $1,000 range, and we don't know how much of that your insurance covers." So, at least I got an upper bound of cost (kind of), I guess.

If that doesn’t make sense, yes this is a failing US healthcare system thing.