When a sling costs $400,
the system is broken
America offers some of the best healthcare on the planet. Yet for millions of families, a single medical procedure means financial catastrophe. The root cause? A complete lack of price transparency.
62%
of US bankruptcies tied to medical bills
$4.5T
annual US healthcare spending
10x
price variance, same procedure, same city
The Origin Story
A $400 piece of cloth changed everything
A few years ago my daughter strained her wrist. I received a bill from my local hospital that didn't make any sense: a short consultation and a simple sling was priced at several thousand dollars.
The sling, a piece of cloth, tagged as “made in Guatemala”, was listed for $400 — the equivalent of an iPad.
I became very curious about how these prices were established. The first fundamental problem was a lack of price transparency — there was no marketplace because there was simply no price listing and thus no comparison of choice for patients.
Lennart Lopin
Co-Founder & CTO, PricePain (2013)
Hospital charge
$400
Actual value
~$8
The Vision
Let doctors be doctors again
A few decades ago, when someone needed a doctor, they would directly interact with a physician and the focus would be on healing. From one person to another. No filing complexity, administrative overhead, drawn-out paper trails.
We've seen how transparency has pushed technology forward and led to advances in electronics that are mind-boggling. What would happen to healthcare if we let price transparency have a comeback?
Where quality and competitive pricing intersect, we discover real value. Let us give the money directly into the hands of caring physicians — so they can truly focus on what they love most: helping people.
The Human Cost
This isn't an abstract problem
Behind every inflated bill is a real family making impossible choices between their health and their financial survival.
Opaque billing
Itemized bills filled with codes no patient can decipher. Charges that bear no relation to actual costs.
Health vs. finances
Families forced to choose between getting care they need and financial survival. 62% of bankruptcies are medical.
Price transparency
When patients can compare, providers compete on value. The same MRI that costs $2,850 is available for $425.
We Were Early
We built it before the law required it
When we started in 2013, the industry said transparent pricing was impossible. Eight years later, it became federal law.
PricePain launches
First healthcare price comparison engine. Industry says it can't work.
Media validates the mission
TIME, NYT, Bloomberg, WSJ publish investigations into healthcare pricing. We collect 18 landmark articles.
Executive Order signed
Federal mandate for healthcare price transparency. What we'd been doing for 6 years becomes national policy.
Hospital Price Transparency Rule
All US hospitals must publish machine-readable pricing files. 6,000+ hospitals begin complying.
No Surprises Act
Patients protected from surprise billing. The legal framework catches up to our founding vision.
Full enforcement
CMS increases penalties for non-compliance. Real data flows. Our database grows to 365,000+ providers.
The Evidence
The evidence is overwhelming
For years, investigative journalists and economists have documented the absurdity of US healthcare pricing. These are the articles that inspired and validated our mission.
Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us
Steven Brill's landmark investigation into why a simple hospital visit can result in a six-figure bill.
Read analysis BloombergHeart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
The same life-saving procedure costs 67x more in America than in India — with comparable outcomes.
Read analysis New York TimesHow to Charge $546 for Six Liters of Saltwater
Saline solution costs less than a dollar to produce. So why does a hospital bag cost hundreds?
Read analysisPost Your Prices Online
Outpatient Surgery
The early case for surgical centers publishing their pricing — before federal law required it.
Consumer Driven Health Market — The ObamaCare Paradox
CNBC
Why giving consumers pricing information could be the most powerful force in reducing healthcare costs.
Why Can't, or Don't, Hospitals Post Prices Online?
NewsOK
The institutional resistance to price transparency — and the perverse incentives that sustain it.
Surgical Center Reveals Prices to Patients
ABC News
The Surgery Center of Oklahoma became a national model by posting all-inclusive prices online.
The Man Who Was Treated for $17,000 Less
Wall Street Journal
How one patient saved $17,000 by simply shopping around for his procedure.
$1,000 For a Dental Crown? Maybe You Should Shop Around
Forbes
Price variation in dentistry mirrors the broader healthcare crisis — identical procedures, wildly different costs.
The $2.7 Trillion Medical Bill
New York Times
America spends more on healthcare than any nation, yet ranks poorly on outcomes. Where does the money go?
Revealing a Health Care Secret: The Price
New York Times
The argument that price itself is healthcare's best-kept secret — and the single most powerful reform lever.
Free Market, Posted Prices Can Prevent Healthcare Sticker Shock
Medical Economics
An economics perspective on how visible pricing creates natural competition and drives down costs.
In Need of a New Hip, but Priced Out of the U.S.
New York Times
Americans traveling abroad for surgery because the same procedure costs 10x less — with the same implant.
Transitioning to a Direct-pay Medical Practice
Physicians Practice
How forward-thinking doctors are cutting out insurance middlemen and serving patients directly.
80% Less Overhead, Savings for Patients & More Earnings for Doctors
Primary Care Progress
Direct-pay models slash administrative overhead by 80% — savings shared between doctor and patient.
How a Secretive Panel Uses Data That Distort Doctors' Pay
Washington Post
The AMA's RUC committee sets prices for Medicare — behind closed doors, with no public input.
From $30,000 to $3,000
Capitol Beat
How transparent pricing turned a $30,000 procedure into a $3,000 one — a 90% reduction through competition.
Doctors Are Opting for Cash-Only Clinics
Ben Swann
A growing movement of physicians choosing transparency and direct payment over insurance complexity.
What We Built
365,000 providers. 110,000 prices. One search.
PricePain aggregates pricing data that hospitals are now required by federal law to publish, combines it with provider-submitted pricing and quality data, and makes it searchable and comparable.
365K+
Healthcare providers
2,334
Procedures tracked
Up to 83%
Potential savings
Since 2013
Industry pioneer
Ready to see what things really cost?
Join the movement. Free for patients, free for providers — because knowing what things cost shouldn't cost a thing.