standardize costs for health care procedures across various providers.

Costs vary drastically from one provider to another for the same procedures - and consumers don't know the costs until they receive a bill after the procedure has taken place. In a recent example, an appendectomy cost one man $55,000 (http://gma.yahoo.com/reddit-user-posts-55-000-hospital-bill-appendectomy...). As mentioned in the article, researchers investigating the cost of an appendectomy found that "an appendectomy varied in price from $1,529 to $182,955." I understand some complications may occur, but these kinds of enormous costs swings are completely unacceptable. Prices need to be standardized so when one needs a medical procedure they know beforehand what the associated cost will be and, if necessary, can look for a better price elsewhere - think vehicle shopping.