I find it cheaper to fly back to Europe and pay out of pocket (uninsured) for anything non-trivial along with my flight ticket than pay for California services. Only two things I miss: a) nicely decorated clinics and nurses taking my vitals and information instead of the doctor b) heart attack or stroke chance while reading the bill.

(Of course, I have the advantage of having people to stay with. Perhaps, Airbnb will start offering health services that way soon.)

/s

Seriously, we need to start looking as health care for its value as health care and not a money grab; we pay enough taxes to have a hospital running without the fear of profitability I believe -- in California at least.

Following up on this apart from my reply above, my observation is instead of raising pay they simply let roles languish. It's bizarre.

But then again it feels like that's what happens when nursing/AP care is treated as a cost center. It seems like they aren't concerned with addressing a market as much as keeping cost/income the same as it has always been.

Depends on location. Most professions I know with that much effort and stress get paid a lot less than $100K, which is the median nurse pay in my area. Amazon pays a lot less.