that is the whole point of publishing prices. with it implicitly you have to adjust your billing to be able to charge predictably for a service such as MRI etc. and if you dont you dont survive in long run as people gravitate towards the providers that give them clarity.

why should be hospitals be the only ones allowed to do this highly anticompetitive practice?

If clarity was a compelling concern for healthcare purchasers, everyone would buy HMO plans, which provide certainty for most things even where the provider doesn't.

The vast majority of patients don't care about price because their insurance is covering it.

That's shifting though with the rise in popularity of high deductible plans.

My plan is 5k deductible, 5k OOP Max, so I'm acutely aware of how much everything costs.