My Mom (no insurance) shops around as follows: "Hi, I'm told I need X done, but I need to know the price. I don't have insurance, and I want to make sure I have enough money to pay for it."
She tends to get accurate estimates, probably because hospitals don't like to hear "I thought it only cost $X, I don't have $X + $Y, so, umm..."
Granted, what she gets isn't likely to be a "a complete cost estimate [...], [...] reflective of any negotiated discounts, [...] inclusive of all associated costs, and did not identify consumers’ out-of-pocket costs", which is what the GAO wanted. But it's certainly good enough for shopping around.
She tends to get accurate estimates, probably because hospitals don't like to hear "I thought it only cost $X, I don't have $X + $Y, so, umm..."
Granted, what she gets isn't likely to be a "a complete cost estimate [...], [...] reflective of any negotiated discounts, [...] inclusive of all associated costs, and did not identify consumers’ out-of-pocket costs", which is what the GAO wanted. But it's certainly good enough for shopping around.