Insurance is up there with penicillin in terms of it's ability to help the masses. The idea that we can avoid the 1% chance we might lose our homes to fire if w

Insurance is up there with penicillin in terms of it's ability to help the masses. The idea that we can avoid the 1% chance we might lose our homes to fire if we just pay a small amount has transformed society. So we still want insurance. But we need a way to make it more competitive. Ultimately - even with insurance - the 'price comes home' - and most of us are very price sensitive. If we had to pay for plans out of pocket ... and they were different prices with transparent points ... we'd see competition. Also as you say hospitals have to be fully transparent about stuff. If someone working on your car can bill you for labour and materials, so can doctors. This 'billing problem' is BS. For example - hospitals should just provide many things as complementary, i.e. just part of the stay in the 'grand hotel'. Regular doctors + nurses time should just be part of the deal, you only pay extra for surgery time. Inexpensive things like x-rays should be part of the daily rate, not a specific charge. Can you imagine if the hotel charged you for every coffee creamer? My god.