I don't really think the suggestions made in the last section of this article really address the core issue here. > Enhance transparency in healthcare pricing

I don't really think the suggestions made in the last section of this article really address the core issue here. > Enhance transparency in healthcare pricing So after you're in an emergency room, and a posted sign shows that to see any medical professional there, you'll be charged X plus a facilities fee Y. After you wait k hours to be seen, you're told that the treatment they think you need will cost Z. If you think that's too high, during an emergency do you try to go to a different hospital to see if they have the same treatment for W < Z? > Institute arbitration for billing disputes I mean, better than no arbitration, but if you're dealing with a serious illness , trying to recover from an injury or whatever, while getting time from work, bouncing between specialists for follow-up visits, still foggy from pain meds, etc should you need to navigate an arbitration process? Are you equipped to? > Advocate for consumer protections: Educate and empower patients to advocate for themselves through measures such as the right to appeal surprise bills and negotiate payment plans with providers. ... so again, placing the burden on patients to defend themselves during what already may be a very challenging time in their life. I think the highest level bit is that the most predictable cost for health care would be under a free-at-point-of-care, single-payer system, that lets us cut all the medical billing and medical insurance overhead out. Everyone pays the same (nothing!) for their care, and every earner pays a predictable amount for the system overall. Even if the exact same "amount" of health care was provided, we'd collectively pay less for it. But if we also went all-in on value-based/outcome-based care rather than fee-for-service, we might also be able to get people to live healthier longer lives with less total care (and costs). And no one who's sick or recovering from a medical crisis needs to spend their energy "advocating" for themselves, or in dispute arbitration, or researching which provider has the best prices for their needed service.