"Unlike buying a car which has a specific, albeit negotiable, price, neither the buyer (the patient) nor the seller (the physician, health practice, hospital) have any idea what the price is at the time that the service is delivered. If you are uninsured, the provider can charge whatever they feel like for the services, which is typically 3x to 5x the negotiated price to a health insurance provider, enough to ruin anyone financially for the rest of their life. Until there is transparency in health care pricing there can't be a free market in health care services. "

A comment from the Yahoo Board