The cost of hospital care is difficult to pin down

Philadelphia Inquirer, June 9, 2008

In health-policy circles, there has been a lot of talk in recent years about "consumer-directed health care" and "price transparency." Some say that Americans might spend less on healthcare if they could figure out, in advance, how much things cost. For all the talk, though, many nascent attempts to help consumers compare prices are deeply flawed, some analysts say.