WSJ.com - Doctors: Post Your Prices

WSJ.com - Doctors: Post Your Prices: "If a goal of health-care reform is to empower the patient, why is there such a mystery about medical prices? Instead of allowing government to set them, which is essentially the case for the great majority of medical procedures, the role of the government should be to make transparent the pricing of these procedures. In our current system, few patients are aware of the costs of their medical care, generally because patients have no reason to ask since it is paid for by third-party insurance programs. This has allowed hospitals and doctors to avoid public view. Patients, however, would greatly benefit if the government required that prices be posted for common medical procedures before the care is administered, in the same way that the government requires clear labeling of medicine and food and open disclosure of prices on gasoline and automobiles. When prices are openly stated and widely known, competition will ensue and prices will come down -- regardless of whether or not patients initially use that knowledge to make their 'purchasing' decisions. This would allow the price mechanism to function again."
This makes a lot of sense. We do this on our website ( www.drmalpani.com) and it helps to keep everyone honest !