> The real kicker is that you generally can't even find out this price until you have the procedure and receive the bill. It's become almost akin to a legal mafia cartel. In my area, a majority of the urologists have become part of a medical group that now dictates pricing for related procedures. Most of the major insurance carriers don't want to pay this pricing so this group is not a covered provider, so finding a urologist that is covered entails sometimes waits of months for an appointment.

I find the American healthcare system pretty atrocious, but I've never had issues getting upfront costs when scheduling non-emergency procedures using cash. Then again it's probably been a good 8+ years since I've done that in the US.