LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Reduce costs, get a discount

OPINION:

Patients can and should know what their medical expenses cost. However, they currently have no incentive to find out because in large part those costs are paid by a third party, their medical insurance. A solution for this problem is to give patients an incentive to research these costs and find providers and hospitals that offer the same needed services at a significantly lower cost. This could be done by offering those patients a reduction in their medical deductible payment based on those savings. If this were done, competition between hospitals as well as competition between doctors would increase, and the costs of medical care would decrease.

DANIEL P. HARLEY

Glen Arm, Md.