In a simple example of a free market a consumer could select a provider based on prices they advertize. With the exisitng and prevalaent fee-for-service health

In a simple example of a free market a consumer could select a provider based on prices they advertize. With the exisitng and prevalaent fee-for-service healthcare this 'fee' is not the price. It's different even functionally, where the 'price' is what's expected to be advertized upfront, the 'fee' is what gets billed afterwards. Has anyone tried to ask a doctor's office or a hospital if they could refer you to a price-list for the range of services they provide? If you're lucky, you'd be referred to Medicare regulated pricing, yet it's not even a baseline. I'm not even going into the 'flavors' of the fees formuated to different insurers, ??patients. While there're rationalizations for such pricing approach, by itself it limits consumer's ability to be an active agent in free market. In healthcare the consumer is treated more like a resource.