Rapper-turned-health care advocate Fat Joe recently summed up the issue of health care price transparency for anyone who has ever walked into a deli (or purchased anything else, for that matter). "It's the only thing on earth they don't give you a price for. If you go buy a sandwich in the store, you know the price." But for health care, "Somebody's paying $300 for an MRI, somebody's right behind them paying $4,000."

If you had no idea what the customer behind you was paying for your exact same sandwich (or surgery), you might not even realize there's a problem (other than the fact that sandwiches – and health care – keep getting more expensive). But after one of health care's best-kept secrets got out, the U.S. government stepped in to compel industry players and payers to publish their prices. 

A clear goal with a murky execution

The 2019 executive order was probably the clearest thing about the health care price transparency initiative: To enhance the ability of patients to choose the health care that is best for them, and to make fully informed decisions about their health care, patients must know the price and quality of a good or service in advance.