> When every time you go to a doctor, you never get a price on anything and then you get a flurry of bills with cryptic codes and unexplainable charges and are

> When every time you go to a doctor, you never get a price on anything and then you get a flurry of bills with cryptic codes and unexplainable charges and are expected just to pay exorbitant sums and shut up - people will only go with it for so long. Nailed it, buddy. I just went through a bad few months of health issues that required numerous trips to see specialists, in-patient and out-patient care, etc. Even though I do have supposedly decent insurance which costs about $1K month between my employer and me, the bills just started piling up day after day. Cryptic codes on all of all of them and absurd costs which were reduced by the insurance company and then sent to me. I'd consistently see crazy, clown-world prices like a one-night hospital stay charged for $25K, reduced by the insurance company to $1200, and then billed to me for $500. It's like they just made up the prices as they went along. And even after doing my best to figure out which bills were valid and which weren't, I still had almost $10K of bills out of pocket, even though I have a deductible for $3K. Turns out the hospital who guaranteed me to be in-network allowed the use an out-of-network anesthesiologist (who billed me twice - once through the hospital where it took place and once through some anesthesiology company). If any other business or industry played these kind of games they'd be instantly bankrupted as consumers would refuse to play, force their credit card companies to make charge backs, or find alternatives. Any other industry with these type of practices would be instantly sued by the SEC and DOJ for RICO act violations and collusion. And while I know it's not just doctors causing the issue, they play a huge part. No sympathy from me if their whole industry were nationalized and they were forced to take government set salaries no higher than GS-15.