The cost-lowering potential of direct-payment practices is heartening because the current third-party payment system has failed to stem our burgeoning health cost crisis.

FORBES: Fed Up With Obamacare, Doctors Increasingly Prefer Cash For Care

Unfortunately, physics, economics and entrepreneurship take a backseat to our legalistic, third-party payment system.

FORBES: Two MRIs Cost $14,961

Unfortunately, physics, economics and entrepreneurship take a back seat to our legalistic, third-party payment system.

FORBES: Religious Left Returns

We rely on a third-party payment system that dramatically reduces any incentive for the patient to be a value-conscious shopper in the health care marketplace.

FORBES: Why Health Care Spending Will Explode Under ObamaCare: Evidence From Medicare

As with any third-party payment system, which gives the illusion of someone else paying, patients tend to demand far more medical services than they would if they believed they could spend any savings on something else.

FORBES: What does Medicaid mean to governors?

Others are considering a departure from the current system of third-party payment.

FORBES: Fed Up With Obamacare, Doctors Increasingly Prefer Cash For Care

Our system of third- and fourth-party payment for health care ensures that even people who actively try to discover the cost of their care have difficulty doing so.

FORBES: Anecdotes vs. Economics in Health Care Policy