If you want to buy something in the market place, you look for the product and you know exactly how much it is going to set you back. Various factors go into how the price is set. The chief among them is competition among various sellers.
But when it comes to healthcare, nobody knows what it is going to cost for a doctors visit, an X-Ray, MRI etc. Neither is there any information available on what the various doctors will charge for the same test/procedure. Why is it that the price of a gallon of milk can be found by the click of a button, it is so difficult to find the true cost of seeing a doctor for your illness?
Well, there is a bill in the US Congress called "Transparency in All Health Care Pricing Act of 2010", which plans to take the first step in developing a transparent pricing for healthcare costs.
Read more about the bill at Transparency in All Health Care Pricing Act of 2010
Also read a similar post Could Price Tags Save American Health Care
Just on a side note: If you are in France and need to see a doctor, you will know exactly how much the doctor will charge you for a particular test. If you want to find out more about the French, Germany, Japanese, UK or the Canadian health care system and how they are run, check out the excellent book The Healing of America
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