[crusso]

Yeah, so is a vasectomy yet when I went in to get a price on a vasectomy from various doctors, none of them could tell me how much one would be despite each doctor's having performed thousands of them.

Doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies play these obfuscation games in order to maximize revenues and profitability.

Removing unnecessary actors from the equation like employers and making pricing publicly visible would do wonders to reform the system.

The fact of the matter is that most surgery isn't emergency surgery. Most procedures can be researched and cost compared.

Even for semi-emergencies, illumination of pricing and other vital information would allow better decisions from consumers who at least knew the reputation of hospitals/providers in their area. I don't know how much a banana costs just now, but I know that if I need a really inexpensive one of dubious quality I can go to the super WalMart down the road. If I want a super fresh one that's probably more expensive, I can go to Whole Foods. If I want a "good enough" mid-price one, I can go to Publix.