As of January 1, 2019, hospitals are required to post their prices online in an effort to be more transparent and provide people with at least some basic information on what they're actually spending.  Several hospital administrators have said that these prices may not represent what you actually see on your bill because insurance companies can negotiate different rates. However, it is at least a starting point.

I decided to take a look at Billings Clinic to see an example of this new requirement and was able to find it pretty easily.  If you look at their transparency pricing page, it offers a downloadable spreadsheet that will give you some basic facts and figures.  I'm not sure how much good this will actually do.  With the exception of elective procedures, most of this stuff is not something you would be in the mood to haggle for, you would just need to get it done.  It was a bit eye-opening as to how astronomically expensive some of these treatments are.  I'm not faulting Billings Clinic for that, it's just the nature of healthcare in the US.

If you really want to get a better (more human, readable) idea about hospital pricing in Montana, check out montanapricepoint.org. This is a great resource provided by the Montana Hospital Association.

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