Another cross to bear for middle-class America from our health care system! Our bill for anesthesia for a two-hour operation was $900. We had an added charge of $225 for “field avoidance,” which translates to over $100 an hour because my husband was in an awkward position. He had back surgery and had to be placed on his stomach — but over $200’s work of awkward position?

I am a registered nurse. I reflect on my 30-plus years in this profession and find that I have never earned a bonus for working in an awkward position. While working in intensive care, I remember sliding in body fluids as I regulated IV’s, did rescue breathing and administered drugs. As an emergency medical technician, I have done CPR while kneeling in animal excrement and given rescue breathing while lying in ice water. I have held cervical traction from the front, rear, side and above a person’s head while a car door or roof has been sawed off (a procedure that can take up to an hour).

Does an oil delivery man get paid extra when he’s forced to climb and stumble through snow drifts to accomplish his task? How about the highway maintenance crews responsible for clearing and sanding our roads in a blinding blizzard? My husband wasn’t paid extra to de-ice his plane when it was icy and the wind-chill factor was 40 degrees below zero! Do dentists charge extra when treating known AIDS patients? They are certainly at more risk when treating these patients (and in an awkward position).

What’s in the future of health care costs? Might we expect that a woman with large breasts would pay more for her mammogram? Or maybe surgeons will charge more for abdominal surgery performed on obese patients? Will x-ray technicians be paid an extra fee when they must carefully position patients who cannot do it themselves, perhaps because of physical or mental limitations? One can just imagine where this trend is leading. Be aware middle-class America; it’s going to be a financial burden to you! Charleen B. Bunker Orrington