Most provider costs are obscured / complicated by insurers sitting in the middle of transactions.

If they weren't, providers wouldn't do some of the all-but fraudulent coding shenanigans that have become normalized. But overbilling a faceless insurer is fine.

And likewise, patients would have an incentive to shop around for the most cost effective services, instead of no one in the system being able to proactively say how much something would cost until the insurance claim is submitted and processed.