I agree that this would not enable people to suddenly be able to afford medical services that they otherwise would not, but I do see some advantages to the syst

I agree that this would not enable people to suddenly be able to afford medical services that they otherwise would not, but I do see some advantages to the system in general: 1. For people without insurance it would possibly give them a little more bargaining power in the negotiations around bills. Right now the hospital holds all the cards, especially when it comes to "costs". 2. It would shine a little light into an area that is generically murky. A lot of people are champions of capitalism/markets being the solution for all/most problems, but market systems do not work well at all when there is a heavy information imbalance. Pretty much every theory of capitalism talks about that. Right now an enormous information imbalance pretty much sums up the U.S. healthcare system.