Aetna publishes prices of doctors for members to use.

Aetna has announced that they are going to post doctor's charges for common services in a pilot program in Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana. This is great news, with this tool consumers will be able to better estimate their costs and weigh the benefit before stepping foot in the doctor's office.

I'm not saying that people should shy away from much needed medical care because of rates, but if you have two doctor's with the same competence level consumers should be able to go online and see which one is more price competitive. As an example, Ford and GM both make great trucks, some consumers will choose only on brand (the doctor's reputation and hospital are his brand), while others will weigh price and features. At least now Consumers will have the same power when making health care decisions that they have when buying a truck!