Volume discount?

It was back to the dentist today. I had broken another tooth last week and went in to have it checked today. It turns out I need an inlay (meaning the cavity is too big for a filling but doesn't need a whole crown) on that tooth AND the one next to it since the filling in it was leaking and had caused a new cavity to grow. Today's cost: $1100

These medical bills are killing us. Add to this all our copays. And the $1500 medical deductible (which began anew on 1/1) which means I'll end up paying for almost all of Lily's ER trip and Ian's last urgent care visit for his ear infection. That doesn't even include the root canal ($160) and two crowns ($1600, give or take) that I had done last month. It feels like every dime in savings and extra ones coming in are being siphoned off to pay for medical bills. We were better off when J was a student, medically speaking. We had really good medical coverage with Medicaid. We didn't have any dental, but really, it feels like I'm practically paying all that out anyway.

I still have at least one more cavity to be filled ($110) and that's if the dentist doesn't find anything else when I finally get in there for the actual exam instead of some other (!#)*%!!$#@ broken tooth emergency.

What really kills me is that this issue isn't unique to our family. It seems as though everyone I know is dealing with this issue. And yet, the influential political majorities neglect to include the crippling costs of health care for American citizens and focus instead on abortion and the WAR ON TERRORISM. It gives me such an isolationist complex. We can't even take care of our own people. Something is wrong with this picture.