Paul is right. Our third party payer system is a disaster. It makes it hard to shop for the best price and quality available and gives little if any incentive to do so.

As an example, I had a medical procedure where the facility that I was at charged twice the amount as one a few miles down the road. The surgeon worked out of both places and if I had known this fact I would have taken the less expensive route. I am sure the surgical result and care would have been about the same.