Yeah, this is a stupid system. The free market doesn't work properly when people can't know the price before deciding to buy or refuse the service. Transparency is not an optional perk.
It drives me insane that, when ordering medication from my HMO, it is no longer able to tell me the price of the pills ahead of time. It's worse than "lobster of the day, market rate", at least you can ask the server what the rate is.
I think we're only a few steps away from patients having to place limit orders on medication like they're on ETrade.
Edit: I double-checked and now at least it gives you an "estimated price". But.. what is there to estimate? Why is there a real-time market rate for perfectly generic prescription pills? https://imgur.com/a/grNPBUB
You end up having to place the order and the charge shows up a little while later. It's never 2x or anything of the sort, but it's also bewildering that they can't tell you what it will cost.
As I see it, there is no free market when it comes to healthcare: there is no real choice, only choices that we introduce. What i mean is: when I get hit by a bus, i want to be in the nearest hospital asap and don't have the time nor the consciousness to play the healthcare market game.
