Here is what happens with a lack of price transparency:

A missionary who does his work in Africa walks into a hospital. He has a simple procedure done that requires a two-day stay. When he gets the bill, he is shocked to find that the procedure cost $28,000. He’s even more shocked to find that a local person with health insurance would have paid a mere $3,300.

That’s the joke. Here’s the punch line: That country is the United States and the hospital is in New Jersey.

Read all of Paul Mulshine’s column.