[tmaly]

this is the only industry in the US that has an anti-trust exemption. So they can charge people differently for different services and they do not have to publish prices.

I think if the employees in the study were given a web interface that is required for booking any appointments, they could get better results. The booking interface could show all qualified specialists that work with their plan, and they could also display prices for specific treatment or average costs for a visit to each particular specialist. So instead of forcing people to price shop, they get to see the prices at the point of booking.

[maxxxxx]

This might work. I have a high deductible plan and the only rational way to reduce costs is to not go to the doctor.

Otherwise it's all guesswork since you don't have any information. You can't get any prices and no quality numbers are available.

A website with binding/fixed prices, some kind of quality number or reviews and whether the doctor will take your insurance would help.

[ars]

They can't do it.

They change less than cost for medicare and medicaid patients. The only way to make it up is charge more than cost for those with better health plans.

Forcing them to show prices would make that impossible.

They would have to charge cost for everyone - but that would cause the US government to pay probably double in health costs, no one would go for it.

So we are left with a sort of hidden tax on anyone with a private health plan.

[maxxxxx]

Why is it impossible to show prices? Medicare and private insurances have defined price lists. They should just be forced to make them public.

A system where one group gets charged too little (is that really true in the case of Medicare? I doubt it) which then forces another group to be ripped off in a hidden way doesn't make sense and hurts the country.

[sseveran]

It is absolutely true in the case of both medicare and medicaid for certain things (not everything). My dad ran business and R&D for pathology ta state level hospital at a major university and he often had to figure out how to continue offering services to medicare patients by making up the money somewhere else when medicare wouldn't even cover the cost of materials.