The reason hospital prices are high is because they are arbitrary.
People come in for services, don't pay, and the hospital eats it. The Hospital has to recover those costs somehow so they basically make up whatever costs they need from paying customers to make up the difference. That's why you have $10k ambulance rides and $75 aspirins.
But if they have to list their prices in advance, they are beholden to that price. They can't just make shit up and grift off some sucker with insurance who comes in after a no fault accident.
Once the price is listed, even if it's insane, it allows other facilities to undercut. After all, an ambulance ride does not cost $10k. If a hospital is recovering its lost costs from treating crack addicts, the homeless, and illegal immigrants by thieving from paying cancer patients then guess what? An outpatient cancer center that DOESN'T have emergency services can under cut and you can price shop.
Without the price listing, the hospital can arbitrarily shift things around and steal from whomever however whenever, making it hard to compete because nothing is ever set, or transparent for either the hypothetical consumer or the hypothetical alternative business looking for opportunities.
The reason hospital prices are high is because they are arbitrary.
People come in for services, don't pay, and the hospital eats it. The Hospital has to recover those costs somehow so they basically make up whatever costs they need from paying customers to make up the difference. That's why you have $10k ambulance rides and $75 aspirins.
But if they have to list their prices in advance, they are beholden to that price. They can't just make shit up and grift off some sucker with insurance who comes in after a no fault accident.
Once the price is listed, even if it's insane, it allows other facilities to undercut. After all, an ambulance ride does not cost $10k. If a hospital is recovering its lost costs from treating crack addicts, the homeless, and illegal immigrants by thieving from paying cancer patients then guess what? An outpatient cancer center that DOESN'T have emergency services can under cut and you can price shop.
Without the price listing, the hospital can arbitrarily shift things around and steal from whomever however whenever, making it hard to compete because nothing is ever set, or transparent for either the hypothetical consumer or the hypothetical alternative business looking for opportunities.