That's another problem. No one knows what anything in a hospital REALLY costs anymore. Medicare pays at one rate, Medicaid at another (very low) rate, each insurance company has their own deals with each hospital/Medical group. And since the end consumer/user never really sees a bill, other than for their deductible, they don't know what they were billed for. How many stories have we've read where where people get the same procedure done (without any follow-on complications) and the costs are completely different (wasn't there a guy in New York, IIRC, that is suing to find out ?)
I remember when I had surgery when I was twelve and my mom arguing with the hospital billing department about the bill she received and the prices of various things. This was before the day of assigning benefits and having the hospital bill the insurance company direct. They billed the patient (or their family) who had to pay first and THEN that person had to submit to the insurance company for re-reimbursement. Now, you don't get an actual bill, you get a "statement of benefits", from the insurance company, long after everything is done and paid.