Shopping for health care based on price is still fairly rare and exceedingly difficult to do. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that the push toward price transparency is growing despite the barriers.

The Journal interviews American Hospital Association president, Rich Umbdenstock, who notes that hospitals "are absolutely in favor of price transparency," but their hands are tied because price transparency requires large-scale change and cooperation from both government and private payors. "If this were in our power to solve, we would have done it a long time ago," Umbdenstock is quoted as saying.

The report offers a concise overview of the argument for price transparency and efforts toward achieving this aim so far. However, it does not wade into all of the moral and ethical considerations that may arise from asking patients to take greater responsibility for their health care choices.