>is an odd conclusion to draw, since the agent primarily responsible for the inability for providers to provide transparent prices to privately insured patients is, ironically, Medicare.

I'm not sure how you can be so certain that is the 1st order reason. The pricing situation seems to often be obfuscated by our private insurance companies as well. When people have different insurance plans, with different back room deals on rates, and different customer out of pocket rules, or none at all, how is the doctor to know what your price is going to be? How does erasing medicare from the equation fix that?