[mindslight]

I feel like 80% of the healthcare logjam would be fixed if providers were required to 1. charge uniform prices for all payers and 2. present patients with written estimates based on said price schedule ahead of any non-emergency services, thus forming an actual contract.

Note that mechanics don't particularly know what they're going to have to do to any given car before they really get into working on it. Yet the market functions perfectly fine with estimates, agreements on hourly rates, phone calls for decisions on surprise situations, etc.

[dumpsterdiver]

I'm not disagreeing at all (I'm not familiar enough with the system to disagree), just curious about your reasoning on uniform pricing for all payers?

The reason I'm curious is because using your car analogy, if I was a barely competent mechanic then management would probably be fine letting me perform oil changes, but when a classic Rolls Royce comes in with all original parts, management isn't going to let me touch that, right? They'll need to call in the big guns, whose rates are definitely higher than my "oil change" rate. I know that doesn't directly map with how medical procedures play out. I guess my real question is when and how does that balance out?

[mindslight]

The reasoning is to make pricing transparent and grokkable as in every other industry, end the severity of this in-network out-network divide, and eliminate this ridiculous dance based around providers sending fraudulent bills to patients.

In the car analogy, there are natural differentiators between levels of service, namely completely different shops that Rolls Royce owners go to. Even so, the same shop could have a price list specifically for Rolls Royces, using Rolls Royce certified mechanics.

And the residual where a shop is willing to pay for damage caused by barely competent mechanics on less expensive cars, but only becomes concerned when that liability grows? It seems like that should fall on the business.