Summary
The United States has very limited price transparency for medical providers and facilities. The lack of price transparency artificially raises costs in the United States because there is very little price competition for services. This is true even in areas where there is excess capacity.
Analysis
The lack of price transparency in the United States has resulted in a lack of competition among health care providers and facilities. I feel this is a large part of the reason our cost structure is so high.
In general, if their are multiple facilities where I can have a specific medical procedure performed my health carrier will not tell me which facility has a lower contracted rate. This makes it impossible for me to consider price in my choice of a facility. The situation is not really any different for providers. I feel this artificially raises prices since there is not a lot of price competition.
For medical procedures abroad there is significantly more price transparency. Cost certainty is important to consumers.
