A big part of the reason consumer goods are so cheap in the U.S. is because people always know what they’re paying. As a consequence, consumers can push prices lower by voting with their feet. If CVS tries to sell me a toothbrush for $4 when the one at Rite Aid goes for $3, I will shop at Rite Aid and CVS will learn its lesson. This dynamic almost entirely accounts for the success of Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart has more efficient (and therefore cheaper) distribution than almost any other company on Earth, but the whole reason Wal-Mart is going for cheap in the first place is because there are hundreds of millions of Americans who demand it—a demand that is listened to because people are able to make well-informed decisions about when to walk away.

Lately I’ve been wondering if we might not be wise to unleash such price-crazed consumerism on the field of health care. The great health care debate has two prongs. I don’t know the best way to expand coverage to the uninsured. But I do have an idea about how to drive down the eye-popping cost of medical treatment: price tags.