Tollways are an interesting subject to examine. For one thing, there is NO competition among various lane PRIVATIZED providers. I can't sit back and say, "Hey, I can pay a premium price to this provider and get better service or speed on this lane over here, or I can get a cheaper/slower lane over here.Space constraints make that impractical. As such is the case, a monopoly sets the prices and I can choose to pay what they demand, or take an alternative route. Most highway maintenance and improvement, comes at the state and local level as opposed to the Federal level, and when it does come from the Federal government, it is because the highway is designated as part of the Eisenhower Interstate System. The interstate system was designated as a Defense initiative, and Conservatives are generally in support of that portion of government spending. It is the Liberals over here, that are always railing against defense spending.
One proposal we have recently implemented in the healthcare system, is providers required to inform their pricing up front. Providers don't like to do that, because they feel patients will choose price over quality, since it is difficult to measure quality on a provider to provider basis, and they have not been pressured to do so in the past, because of the fact that insurance usually takes care of everything, but that was before reasonable priced insurance, demanded taking a high deductible, as a result of the ACA. When patients don't usually see out of pocket expenses, the only institutions that cared to see what the prices charged were, was the insurance companies, and the way they handled that, was to determine which doctors are in their network. When you go to the doctor and then receive the bill in the mail, you are often left with "sticker shock" when you see the price tag, due to the high deductible. Another reason many of us choose high deduction plans, is the fact that we can pull from a tax deductible HSA, if we elect the high deduction plan. That is a legislative decision, and we have to deal with it.
Having that burden to check pricing, is not something the average consumer is accustomed to doing, when it comes to medical care. We all want the best care, but the reality is, the second best doctor has to find work to do as well, and most of us base our choice of provider, based on customer reviews. What the customer can accurately give feedback on, is how nice the staff is towards them, and how clean the facilities appear. They really are unqualified though, to assess whether the doctor provided the correct diagnosis and treatment, and all they really know, is whether the symptoms for which they were treated, have gone away.
