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Emergency care accounts for just 2% of healthcare spending.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2013/oct/28/nick-gille...

That is not a useful statistic here. We are talking about an individual’s financial obligations in a medical emergency. A $10,000 bill is not 2% of an individual’s yearly spending.

You’re missing the bigger picture. It’s worthwhile improving transparency around the vast majority of healthcare needs/spending. ER costs are also a problem, but it’s an orthogonal issue. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

No, I don't oppose hospital price transparency. My comment was basically a procedural one. Saying that ER visits are 2% of nationwide costs does not meaningfully address the toplevel poster's concerns.

> ER costs are also a problem, but it’s an orthogonal issue.

It's natural to want to discuss this orthogonal issue, and the solutions to the two issues are not mutually exclusive.

And yet: Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92% of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5000, or 10% of pretax family income.

https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343%2809%2900404-5/pdf

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