[mindslight]

Providers are a full half of the problem! We live in a market economy, and it is doctors' responsibility to be able to answer straightforward questions about how much various treatments will cost, just as every other profession gives quotes and estimates. Pretending that money doesn't exist is doing a grave disservice to patients, for whom money most certainly is a concern.

In the short term, I know it's a tall ask for a provider to be able to tell a patient how much care from other providers might cost. But providers could certainly start by knowing the prices of services that they themselves perform. And if that's too hard because their billing departments have made it opaque with a whole slew of prices depending on who might be paying, then providers need to work on reforming their own houses before pointing fingers at the other half of the problem.