America. Unclear pricing combined with insurance companies requiring their customers to go with preferred "in-network" providers, there is no true competition in the medical industry to keep pricing and practices accountable. There is no true informed free market as there is in virtually every other industry in America. If I were to go through my employer's insurance for me and my family, it would be costing me about as much as our mortgage.... for crummy coverage that still has deductibles that are too high.

We've opted to go with a health sharing plan where we "pay out of pocket" and I can't tell you how hard it has been to get itemized bills/estimates of the costs of procedures prior to the time of the procedures. The hospitals will give us a "good faith" estimate, but not provide any details. One "Good faith" estimate was for $71,000. But they could not provide any details. In what industry can you quote a service of $71,000 dollars and not provide ANY indication of what those costs are derived from? I think this, too, is a function of insurance. Because all billing has been handled by insurance for so long, the health systems have grown accustomed to a lack of direct accountability to the consumer for pricing information and fairness.

So many issues and it's infuriating.