Momentum for price transparency continues

The trend towards price transparency in health care has been afoot for many years now, and it still might be many more years before we see anything like other industries. As another encouraging sign of this continuing trend, NPR recently posted a story about how Massachusetts now requires health care providers to disclose costs of procedures to prospective patients. The article chronicles the travails of an expectant mother trying to figure out how much labor and delivery would cost at nearby hospitals. Unfortunately, there's no requirement for providers to disseminate this information in a form that is easily interpreted by computers so that websites can incorporate the data to help patients shop. Instead, patients need to resort to the phone, navigating switchboards and voicemail systems. Even worse? Some providers are not complying with the law.

Isn't the whole idea of having to call around to find prices reminiscent of a much older era? Didn't price comparison websites for travel pop up in the nineties? For a sector that consumes about a sixth of the nation's GDP, one might hope for a more transparent marketplace. Maybe some year.