@Pedro Absolutely agree that hospitals and other providers don’t want to compete on price, but that’s where the market is heading. From the research we’ve done at Point Health, a higher price very rarely means higher quality. You’ll find several studies that show there is no correlation. Thanks for sharing your insights, I find it valuable to hear people’s opinions and thoughts on all healthcare issues. Conversations like this will lead us all to a better healthcare system.

@Barry, great point on the affordability of ASC’s vs. hospitals. This is something we’ve also seen in our data. We always encourage our members to explore options like ASCs so they can find the best care at the most affordable price. Always excited to see a fellow price transparency advocate!

First, hospitals and providers don’t want to compete on price. People with health insurance are prevented from shopping because insurers have contracts with hospitals/providers (in/out of network). As well do patients really want a lower price or do they want a trusted and competent doctor – you’ll find lower prices infer less quality.

The only solution to this is Medicare for all with mandated prices.

To help consumers who do care about costs, it would be helpful if there were navigators similar to those who help patients choose insurance plans. Physician office staff could also be helpful in this regard, especially for those patients who let their doctor know that cost is an important issue for them. Finally, price transparency is most valuable in the hands of doctors if they will use it since it’s doctors’ decisions to prescribe drugs, admit patients to the hospital, refer them to specialists, order tests, consult with patients and perform procedures themselves that drive virtually all healthcare costs.

What we should also be trying to do is drive as much care out of hospitals as we can if it can be done safety. United Healthcare, for example, tells us that many surgical procedures can be done in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) for half the cost of doing it in a hospital even when the same doctor does it in both places. The reason is that hospitals must operate around the clock and ASC’s don’t. Hospitals also have vastly more fixed overhead. If we want hospitals to maintain significant surge capacity that remains empty most of the time, taxpayers should pay them to carry those mostly unoccupied beds from a separate pool of money so that expense won’t have to be covered from patient revenue.