Are You Paying Fair Prices for Health Care?

How can a medical procedure that costs $7,000 at one hospital cost nearly $100,000 at the hospital down the street? Because patients don't know what anyone charges for anything.

That might change soon. The federal government has released a database laying out charges for common medical procedures at hospitals across the country, The Huffington Post reports. Officials said they released the data to make hospitals more intelligent competitors and patients better informed consumers.

The results are vexing:

Even within the same metropolitan area, hospitals charge prices that differ by staggering degrees for the same procedures. People without health insurance pay vastly higher costs for care when less expensive options are often available nearby. Virtually everyone who seeks health care winds up paying inflated prices in one form or another as these stark disparities in price sow inefficiencies throughout the market.

What's your reaction to the variation in health care prices? Will this information change how you seek health care? What should be done to improve medical pricing?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.