As one of the few remaining independent physicians in the Bangor area, I was particularly interested in The Maine Heritage Policy Center’s recent publication on the wide disparity in the costs of healthcare seen on WLBZ in April. I wanted to offer some perspective on why this is and on how the average Mainer can better avoid unjustified costs. The significant and sometimes ridiculous difference in costs between the large tax-exempt hospital setting and smaller independent facilities has been growing over the last two decades, to which I refer as the “hospital billing dark ages.” These “dark ages” are fortunately ending as…