> pressure on hospitals to find ways to reduce prices This might be the case if hospitals had to actually show their prices rather than sending bills after the

> pressure on hospitals to find ways to reduce prices This might be the case if hospitals had to actually show their prices rather than sending bills after the fact for a price you aren't allowed to know when you consent to treatment. It might also help if competition were allowed, but for hospitals it is pretty much not in a lot of states. To open a new hospital in many states, you need a "certificate of need", which is basically a document demonstrating that you won't be competing with the existing hospitals. So much for "free market health care".