My reason for liking price transparency is more a function of age rather than enumerated powers or true vine conservative principles. There was a time when a patient could know that the pricing on the doctor or hospital bill was a reflection of all costs and the profit necessary for the service to continue. Today, it is nearly impossible to arrive at that conclusion due to the interference of Medicare and the insurance industry working to exercise their muscle as a “consumer” rather than the patient being first in the mind of the provider.
Mandates = Bad...gotcha, agreed — see Medicare comment above. At the base of the entire healthcare discussion, it remains a problem that costs have risen unchecked due to the disconnect of the patient from the payment through insurance. Other elements of this plan seek to turn that around so it stands to reason that if you want market forces to be paramount, true vine conservative principle #1 IMO, information is the primary lever the patient has as a market force. I’m all for any way that can be done without a mandate yet getting the information to the patient still deserves to be mentioned as a factor in any healthcare overhaul.
The disconnect between price and patient is because in almost every instance, the patient doesn’t pay the bill.
You aren’t the customer.
In reality, your employer is your insurance’s customer not you. And that’s not even the biggest customer for most providers. Fed and state are 1 and 2.
The solution to price transparency isn’t more regulation. It’s placing control in the hands of the users.
It’s using HSAs for routine care and insurance only for catastrophic needs.
Even for chronic care, like diabetes and heart disease, most routine care decisions should be in the hands of the consumer. Any aid to help chronic care shouldn’t be taking over the care and being between consumer and provider.
Get out of the way of the free market and price transparency will resurface without regulation.
One final thought: wage controls during WWII brought about fringe benefits like health insurance and the government liked it so institutionalized it with tax breaks. The current system between you and your doc, from Medicare to Medicaid to employer insurance - they’re all government animals.
The solution isn’t more government; it’s less.
I’m not trying to be confrontational but conversational.