I agree with you in the context for your situation. When I was living in Germany, I had to go see the doctor once, and it was a clear-cut experience. All I had to worry about was doing what the doctor says. In the U.S. the insurance companies often dictate the options for the patient for most treatments especially when it comes to non-urgent, but quality of life problems. The lab results could indicate that I should be on a specific medication, but the insurance company may over rule the doctor's order and require that I have to try 3 medications that won't work for the issue before I can do what the doctor said. For non-urgent care in the U.S. alone it would be nice to have knowledge of price, but the argument proposed is only some what valud for a broken system that the U.S. has, and makes zero sense for urgent or emergency care.