[bart_spoon]

> Without the insurance companies, who would have the power negotiate pricing with the providers?

Healthcare costs have skyrocketed because of the negotiators. PBMs are the middlemen who negotiate healthcare prices between insurance companies and providers. I can't speak for hospitals and procedures, but in the pharmaceutical industry, it actually has led to a system where insurers and PBMs both benefit from drug prices increasing as opposed to decreasing. They aren't driving costs down, they are directly contributing to driving costs up.

[lotsofpulp]

Negotiation does not cause costs to rise, it’s because of lack of price transparency that let’s insiders play games.

Make all the prices public, and watch all the excuses disappear. No insurance company will be able to answer the government or employer when they find out another insurance company was able to obtain the same medicine or healthcare for a lower price.

[ajmurmann]

I posted a link in a parallel thread to a surgical center that has all their prices on their website. Insurance companies refuse to work with them, supposedly for the reasons you state. So you are correct.