This is a really important goal, but whether simple mandates can solve it, I'm not sure. The real problem is that consumers don't care about the prices, which is how all the various layers of providers and middlemen are able to jack up all the prices without limit.
High deductibles are one way that consumers can be made to care, but obviously that has its own problems. Single-payer would not fix the problem by itself, either... although using monopsony power could certainly help, if executed competently.
Merging a single-payer approach with a high deductible approach could work, and the deductibles could actually be paid via a government-filled HSA account that one could rollover into a retirement or college savings account, if unspent.
High deductibles are one way that consumers can be made to care, but obviously that has its own problems. Single-payer would not fix the problem by itself, either... although using monopsony power could certainly help, if executed competently.
Merging a single-payer approach with a high deductible approach could work, and the deductibles could actually be paid via a government-filled HSA account that one could rollover into a retirement or college savings account, if unspent.