Medical treatment is the only industry in the whole world where there are almost no market forces available to the consumer.
The provider will almost never tell you in advance what a service is going to cost.
The doctor says you need some service that he provides, he provides the service, and then sends you a bill for whatever he wants to charge you afterwards.
The whole step about “well, how much is this going to cost me and is there anything cheaper I can do instead?” does not exist as a meaningful part of the process in any way.
This has got to change. Completely. All medical services must have defined costs which are prominently displayed at the doctor’s office.
I agree. Where else do we get stuff that we don’t know the cost. My son gets regular treatments for a chronic condition. We just about choked when we found out weeks later they cost $11,000 a crack. Every 8 weeks. Insurance covers it but wow.
And a projected scale for possible complications.
Good post. I think you nailed it.