How much does a new hip cost? (NPR)

I keep having these fantasies: oh, the things I would change if I became a hospital administrator!  And then I snap back to reality, because dreaming grandiose dreams and snapping my fingers won't make a whole culture change.

I have a dream... that one day healthcare will be transparent and affordable.  NPR did some investigative research on this and discovered that surgeons have no idea how much the procedures they perform cost.  Will we ever know?

The problem with the current system is that no service is ever paid at face value.  Each insurance company negotiates with a hospital about the price that they will pay for a procedure.  Then, within each insurance company are a number of plans that are sold to customers.  The real value of a procedure becomes so convoluted with discounts and subsidies that there really is no set value to it.  So until this system changes, there is no way for my future self to change the system.  That is, unless I become a politician, but what MD will ever do that?