A Call for Transparency in Health Care Pricing

A couple of months ago, my son was in a bicycle accident. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured, but he did need several MRI's for which we received a hospital bill for $3,000.  My wife called the hospital to provide our health insurance information and was told, "Oh, we didn't know that you have insurance.  Our insurance company rate for your son's MRI's is $6,000."  Since we have a high deductible insurance plan, and do not expect to meet the deductible this year, my wife told the hospital to disregard the insurance and that we would pay the $3,000 charge.  The hospital told her that would be a mistake on our part, because in the end, we would only have to pay the amount approved by the insurance company, which might wind up being around $1,200.

One of the major problems with health care is that no one ever knows or understands the costs.  When a health care service is provided, the consumer does not have the slightest idea what the charges will be, but the provider has no idea either!  In our case, there are at least three different prices for the same diagnostic service, and there may be many more, depending on which insurance company covers the patient.  I don't see how the service changed, as it has already been provided.  This is the craziest system I have ever heard of, and is bad for all participants.  Not only do patients have no idea of the cost of care, providers have no idea of how much they will receive for their services.

Health care is the only industry I can think of that has this type pricing structure. And to make matters worse, the pricing is kept secret.  No one ever understands the charges. Why can't physicians, hospitals, and laboratories establish and make public fixed pricing for fixed services, and have the same pricing for all patients, regardless of if they are insured or who they are insured by?  As far as I know, a blood test is a  blood test and an X-ray is an X-ray. A little competition is healthy.   If people can save by price shopping for health care services, everyone will benefit.  Not everyone will use the lowest cost provider, but at least they will have the information to make an informed decision.  Health care costs are out of control because there is no price competition.  Imagine what would happen to those costs if consumers knew in advance what they were.