For some Americans, it can cost less to fly to China, stay in a five-star hotel, get an MRI, and return home than to have the same scan in the United States, even with insurance.

It sounds unbelievable, but MRI prices in the U.S. vary dramatically depending on the hospital, insurer, location, and deductible. Private insurance plans can pay more than three times what Medicare pays for some outpatient MRIs, while negotiated prices can differ sharply even within the same region.

Meanwhile, official public-hospital price lists in parts of China show routine MRI scans costing only a few hundred yuan per body region, although contrast, consultations, interpretation, translation, and international-patient services may add to the final bill.

The point is not that every American should fly overseas for medical care. The exact total depends on the scan, insurance plan, airfare, hotel, hospital, and follow-up needs.

But when an international trip can even compete with the insured price of one medical scan, something about the American healthcare system is deeply broken.