As usual, John Stoessel has some great points to consider.....

Generally, he is saying that because Americans have healthcare coverage and the structure of that coverage, there is no consumer price discovery and incentive for efficiency or innovation to drive prices lower. Using the analogy of food insurance, if one paid for food as a fixed price, what incentive is there to substitute products or to try to get product at the lowest price? People will eat steak everyday instead of hamburger not matter what the price is.

However, in those procedures that are not generally covered by health insurance, such as Lasik eye surgery, there is price discovery, price competition and prices have actually fallen over the years.