Indeed, transparent pricing is a plainly obvious requirement of a free market, which is why lots of business "innovations" are ways to hide pricing. Where it br

Indeed, transparent pricing is a plainly obvious requirement of a free market, which is why lots of business "innovations" are ways to hide pricing. Where it breaks down in my mind is that we have a hard time assigning a market value to human morbidity and mortality. I have my own story of US healthcare which may be enlightening. It happened to a friend of mine. Let's say this friend is not particularly well to do and lived with his 2 brothers, but they don't always get along that well. At some point, they got into an argument that escalated into an altercation where one brother broke a poolstick over my buddy's head. He had a concussion and laceration needing stiches, so he went to the ER. He was unable to remember his name or which ER treated him, and as a result, was never billed for the care provided and learned the key to universal healthcare in the US - he just gives a fake name at the ER now.