Most hospitals use a chargemaster, or similar price indexes for charges to their clients / patients. Additionally, some insurance companies are now being required to negotiate based off this chargemaster. There is no rhyme or reason behind this price index, and nothing is similar from hospital to hospital.
The government currently regulates hospital pricing with Medicare, as the most that can be charged is the cost of the item, along with all overhead. If the government were to regulate this pricing index for all hospitals, it would drastically lower household healthcare costs and greatly improve the economy overall.
With the healthcare industry having the largest lobby, which is absurd considering we rely on them to survive, the white house should be the peoples lobby for health.