What We Can Do
To Fix This Right Now
No waiting for Congress. These are actions individuals, employers, and communities can take today.
Price Transparency
Use it. Demand it. Punish hospitals that hide it.
The Hospital Pricing Game
$14K
Hospital A
MRI, no insurance
$3.2K
Hospital A
MRI, insurance negotiated
$800
Hospital B
Same MRI, posted price
Same procedure. Same city. 17.5x price spread. Legal.
Action Steps
Look up hospital prices BEFORE your procedure at hospitalpriceindex.com or PriceCheck (CMS)
For non-emergency procedures: call 3+ facilities and ask the exact price with your insurance
File an HHS complaint if a hospital's price transparency files are missing or incomplete
Support your employer joining a Reference-Based Pricing coalition
Direct Primary Care
$50-100/month flat fee. No insurance, no billing, actual access.
DPC practices charge a flat monthly membership and provide unlimited primary care — same-day appointments, physician cell phone access, wholesale prescription prices. 1,700+ practices nationally.
Find a DPC doctor: dpcfrontier.com or dpcare.org
Build Our Own Insurance
Self-insured co-ops work. Cities, unions, and employers are doing it.
Self-insured groups remove the 20-30% insurer overhead, negotiate directly with providers, and return savings to members. Viable at 500+ member groups.
Full breakdown with real examples →Contact Your Representatives
Price transparency enforcement, DPC expansion bills, and state insurance reform are all active issues.