Then he should jokingly bring it up in the meeting that is scheduled second. Also, power move says bring lunch into the noon meeting and just eat while others are not.

As second opinion could be useful, but may be an additional expense and delay treatment. If income is based on physical hours worked, the best bet may be to have the surgery as soon as possible. The buddy can ask for a payment plan or uninsured discount before the procedure and after try to negotiate the cost down further. The risk of going uninsured has already showed the downside and this will be a very expensive lesson. Do not let them put all their cash into the surgery or there will be further needs for cash to fund living expenses while out of work. Plan for the off time and life expenses, get the surgery, pay for it later and rebuild emergency money by living at a lower standard of living.

That salary is far too high to neglect health insurance. In the US, one needs health insurance or risk this type of financial catastrophe.