>...but more importantly, when a person is sick or injured, they usually are not able to comparison shop. Emergencies make it impossible, but even a relatively

>...but more importantly, when a person is sick or injured, they usually are not able to comparison shop. Emergencies make it impossible, but even a relatively common illness makes comparison shopping unrealistic. I disagree. Almost all out-patient medical procedures are pre-planned and it would be possible to comparison shop if there was actual pricing info. Even in terms of hospitals, an estimate is that about 1/2 of the patients are admitted through the ER. Obviously there are emergencies and you aren't going to be doing price comparisons if you are in an ambulance after a car crash, but that isn't the majority of medical care. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/business/half-of-hospital-admissions-from-emergency-rooms.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/business/half-of-hospital... >...The system is broken and until the insurance industry's grip is broken, I don't think there is a simple magic bullet that will solve all of the problems with health care in this country.