Health care needs buyers willing to say no
By Tony Lo Sasso Right now, millions of workers are choosing their health plans for next year. The average family premium for employer coverage hit $28,303 in 2026, up 28% in the last five years. While employers appear to cover most of that premium, workers ultimately bear the full cost of those benefits through lower wages. Yet no one is really pushing back. The most telling signal is health care prices: For the same service, prices vary enormously, even within the same market. An MRI or a knee replacement can cost several times as much at one hospital as at another across town, with little evidence that the higher-priced hospital provides higher quality care. This violates a fundamental economic principle: the law of one price. In functioning market settings, price discovery and competition ensure this tendency. But in health care markets, such forces are obscured. Patients have…