When motrin gives you a headache?

I noticed with amusement a statement I received after a trip to the emergency room with my son at All Children's Hospital. This is the statement one gets before it goes to the insurance company, which will then adjust the rates and pay the bill. The total bill was ridiculous, of course, but the $19 charge for one dose of children's Motrin really astounded me. We all know hospitals do these things, but it is something else to see it on paper in black and white. Charging $19 dollars for one dose, when one can buy a whole bottle of the stuff for $5-$8, depending where you buy it from, and if it is on sale or not.

Of course, administrators would have you believe that these high prices are caused by uninsured patients who don't pay, but it is easy to imagine why people are unable to pay when they charge unrealistic prices like this. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a recent article of hospital administrators salaries, but this 2008 article from the St Petersburg Times on hospital administrators salaries highlights why patients are paying $19 for a single dose of Motrin. As one can see, some of the salaries approach or exceed one million dollars. Certainly, this is something to think about.