Exactly this. It's a falsehood to think that HSA/HD will cause you to be a better consumer because you can't be a better consumer when the sellers refuse to pr

Exactly this. It's a falsehood to think that HSA/HD will cause you to be a better consumer because you can't be a better consumer when the sellers refuse to provide price information. We had our first child this year and the hospital coded some things to my wife and some to my daughter which caused us to pay two deductibles. I tried to get an itemized breakdown repeatedly from the hospital and was met with "we can't do that." Never mind the fact that you can't exactly shop around for places to deliver when your OB/GYN only has admitting privileges at one hospital. I'm about as free market as they come but when the providers flat refuse to tell you what they are going to charge you. Try going to one of those corner ERs, you'll have to sign a form saying you are solely responsible for all charges but they sure won't tell you what those charges are until you sign it.