5 September 2019 - A primary driver of high spending in the US health care system, relative to other countries, is the higher prices paid for health care in the United States. 

Part of what sustains these high prices is that health care prices are largely opaque. The goal of price transparency is to empower patients with new information so they can consider prices, along with quality, when making choices about when and where to receive health care. 

Ideally, such informed decision making would increase competition in the health care system, which in turn, would create incentives to lower prices or demonstrate value.

Read JAMA Viewpoint