The US is proof that a free-market system for healthcare does not work. This is also illustrated by all the stories here. For free-market to work, a consumer n

The US is proof that a free-market system for healthcare does not work. This is also illustrated by all the stories here. For free-market to work, a consumer needs to be able clearly understand what he is buying and how much it will cost before he consumes whatever he buys. This allows him to shop around, and find the best seller and price. The current system just drives prices up instead of down, as the seller, who is in it for the profit, can set his prices after the goods have been bought. Ofcourse prices will go up, there's no competition anymore, as the buyer has already consumed the goods. Trying to make this transparent before an operation would not work. It would just turn healthcare into another IT project, where seller will offer you the lowest prices, and then come up with extra-work that also needs to be done. Image being operated on, and the surgeon informs you they've discovered some required extra work, asking you if you will agree with the additional cost... It's clear to me that healthcare and free-market are an incompatible combination, it needs to be heavily regulated, and probably single-payer.