It's only of limited helpfulness because the charging system for US healthcare is utterly bonkers.
Might well be the actual care runs you $3500, but then you need to add $1000 for the aspirin they gave you, $800 for some gauze, and another $2500 for that MRI, because by jove it will be amortized.
And at that point, you have a negotiable bill - because all health care bills in the US are open to negotiations. The insurance strategy to negotiation is usually a simple "yeah, we only cover that much, and you'll like it". The private strategy is reminding hospitals that they only make cents on the dollar if it goes to collection.
Don't get me wrong, price transparency would be an enormous step forward for the US, but it's still just one step on a long road, and it won't be as useful as you'd hope.
Might well be the actual care runs you $3500, but then you need to add $1000 for the aspirin they gave you, $800 for some gauze, and another $2500 for that MRI, because by jove it will be amortized.
And at that point, you have a negotiable bill - because all health care bills in the US are open to negotiations. The insurance strategy to negotiation is usually a simple "yeah, we only cover that much, and you'll like it". The private strategy is reminding hospitals that they only make cents on the dollar if it goes to collection.
Don't get me wrong, price transparency would be an enormous step forward for the US, but it's still just one step on a long road, and it won't be as useful as you'd hope.