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>>A good start would be if the medical industry in the US were run like normal businesses with transparent and consistent pricing. People keep saying this, but

>>A good start would be if the medical industry in the US were run like normal businesses with transparent and consistent pricing. People keep saying this, but I don't see how that helps in the slightest if you have had an accident and need help now. Or for non-urgent care - something is wrong, you don't know what, you go to two doctors, one recommends a set of tests for $5000, the other a different set for $10,000, how does price transparency help you here in any way shape or form? Edit: to be clear, this isn't meant to be a comment against price transparency. My point is that I don't think that's what the issue is. When I go to an NHS doctor here in UK I have absolutely 0 idea how much any of the tests or procedures cost, and yet the system isn't putting people in poverty(it has a lot of other problems, but bankrupting people isn't one of them).

bobthepanda 3y ago
It would provide some incentive to equalize across hospitals and rein in any sort of egregious outliers. Right now no one has any idea what is an outlier. There was already list pricing published and some hospitals charge wildly different prices for the same tests, never mind with different insurers. It wouldn’t solve everything but the base of knowledge we have is effectively zero, so something would be better than nothing. Consumers in the US are also perfectly capable of shopping around for non-urgent care. They already do this for elective dentistry, for example.
markus92 3y ago
Absolutely true for urgent care, but most care isn't urgent. If you need a new hip or cataract surgery, that's very much plannable and if you could save a few thousand by going to a different hospital, definitely something to consider.