Healthcare Pricing Transparency and Keep the Cash

Imagine a grocery store selling products without a price. How would a person decide to purchase a good? How would a person decide a must or want item? Without prices, wouldn't a person consume resources without regard or discretion?

How would one store compete against another store when the pricing is opaque? I suppose the environment and service level might provide differentiation. However, differentiation without pricing would lower the pace of innovation and operational excellence. There is no need to perform as an entity if the revenue is fixed whether the execution of delivery is done well or not well for the consumer.

Now think about the Health Care system. Why is there no pricing transparency? Why does a consumer need to effectively allow employers to transfer large sum premiums to health insurance entities without any control of resource consumption and spending?

A better model would provide consumers with 1. pricing knowledge about all services and goods consumed in the health care process and 2. control of resource consumption.

HSA accounts seem to be a great instrument for (2). For example, employer health benefits pay $x to insurance companies on a monthly basis. The insurance company takes in this revenue and often incurs no expense. The HSA instead would receive this money and the consumer would keep the cash whenever health care services are not used because of healthy living.