Hospitals in the US not only benefit from unpublished pricing, they also benefit from the situation of customers. A lot of their customers will be unable to co

Hospitals in the US not only benefit from unpublished pricing, they also benefit from the situation of customers. A lot of their customers will be unable to compare multiple hospitals and "shop around", so to speak. Either because their conditions is life threatening, they're actively dying or they're no longer responsive. The ambulance, in any rational scenario, will drive you to the closest hospital in terms of time-spent-driving So from a corporate perspective it's perfect; the customer arrives and you're legally obligated to start spending money while they are likely unable to object and then you can bill them for it.