NYC hospitals still aren’t sharing all their prices a year after transparency law took effect

[Kefir King]

Add dental fees to the argument. They could be the worst offenders.

Yes, prices are escalating rapidly due primarily to the Fed's malfeasance, over the past several years, but prices are not the issue, knowing costs IN ADVANCE is what the paying public is entitled to. It is up to each of us to demand advance prices from ANYONE who serves us.

What makes a doctor or hospital think he is any better than a franchisee at McDonald's.

[Gantz]

Originally Posted by Aeran

And you don't really need the beer (although you may think that you do). Where as you may really need the medical procedure and don't have the time or the energy to inquire and shop around. They got you where they want you, these hospitals.

Even if you have time and energy to shop around you literally can't. For most of the surgeries, for example, you have time to shop around - to fix your knee, back, heart, etc. It is usually months before you actually do the surgery anyway. But they simply never tell you the prices even if asked or tell you ridiculous price ranges, even for specific procedures or items. Which is illegal, but there is no enforcement. In any other industry, they would be fined to oblivion.
One good example is birth delivery. You can have 2 hospitals close to each other: Hospital X charges $2K and has outcomes for baby and mother above national average and Hospital Y charges $8.5K and is one of the worst in the nation for baby delivery. Hospital Y is still in business because people simply do not know and cannot find out easily, so both hospitals have roughly the same number of clients. In a perfect world, with transparent pricing, market forces would force Hospital Y to either discontinue their maternity ward or force it to change.