ok4450 makes an undeniably great point about the markup for supplies at the hospital. My son had to be taken in to the ER once because he spiked a high fever. The total cost to treat a two year old for a high fever for four hours was $2600 before insurance discounts and coverage took care of a good portion of the expense. Of the items on the bill, one that stood out was 5mL of children’s Tylenol for $18. A 100mL bottle of the stuff runs about $4 at Wal-Mart, so that is a markup of close to 10,000%. To apply the same markup, if you brought your car to me, and it was half a quart low, the cost of the oil required to top it off would be, conservatively, around $120. Good grief, take your car to the ER for an oil change and you would be looking at $1200 for the oil, $400 for the filter, and $1200 for occupying a triage room for a half hour.