This is an interesting interview, thank you. It seems there must be more legal graft and corruption in medical care than in any other sector of the economy. The Blues used to negotiate discounts with hospitals and doctors but failed to tell their policy holders they weren't paying what the policy holders bill said they were paying, but a lower amount. Then they based the policy holders 20% co-pay on the higher non-discounted price. They got sued in several states and lost. So they have apparently found another way to cheat, but this time legally. The "charge back". We have to remove the incentive for hospitals to charge outrageous fees that they know can't be paid. But how best to do that? Medical care in the U.S. is a mess!
Good old fashioned free market competition where customers, not a third party, are comparing prices and service and picking the best value would seem to be the solution that works in other, less regulated sectors of the economy. Insurance, HMOs, and government programs, at least in our current regulatory situation, all share the 3rd party payer problem, which destroys the consumers' normal motivation to hold prices down. If government must be involved, maybe some type of voucher or health savings system would work better than what we have. At the end of the day, the health care consumer needs to have a reason to care how much they're being charged.
that is a pipe dream. there is not and can not be real competition in health care. the customer has to be able to freely choose to go elsewhere before competition can work. that does not exist in health care.