I think your analogy breaks down for the reasons Jack says. It turns out, according the biller I talked to on the phone yesterday, that the way to find out the prices is to go into the doctor's office and ask for the codes for what he wants to do before he does it, step out and call the billing department and ask the price. This makes the doctor wait a lot longer during the visit and wives will have fighting children they have to control while on the phone. Or she could get a babysitter. You get the idea.
Actually, my analogy is quite good if you ask me, I know specific examples of car dealers screwing people over with obscene charges and taking all sorts of liberties with adding fees and work to people just wanting a simple car repair. The difference is that car dealers are getting better because they are being forced to. What happens now is that you are given an estimate and asked to sign it, and you are told that if they go much higher they will call you. Prices in auto repair in general have become more public, sometimes even posted on the wall over their heads or on their web sites. You can know the hourly rate of the mechanics, ask them to call if going above a certain dollar amount, etc. But these are all pretty new, 10-20 years ago auto repair was much worse, and car dealers were notorious for their obscene prices and additions. Certainly not all of them, but plenty of them.
My point is that health care is in a similar situation right now, with the additional complexity of insurance companies and government payments pushing their payments down, on top of patient demand for the absolute best and absolute safety. So yes, you absolutely got screwed by the charges. And yes, you absolutely can't easily compare prices and shop around at many places. But people who just show up and flow through the system are the PROBLEM. If more people asked for prices, demanded transparency, and shopped around, then health care providers would adapt. I'm not saying it is right, I'm saying this is how it is, so adapt, and pay the charges if you can afford them. Not because the charges or right and fair, but because paying them is the right thing to do.
What is so sad is that other options are completely ignored, even after I mentioned them. You talk about how hard it would be to get estimates from the clinic, so fuck them. Go ask Walgreens or your other local vaccine places. I agree clinics and hospitals are a pain in the ass, so if paying cash I would avoid them whenever possible. I'm not faulting you for not knowing to do that ahead of time, but I think it is fair to acknowledge there are other options besides just going with the high cost unknown route. And that is on us the consumers to spread the word and make those choices. We aren't fucking sheep, we can figure things out and work with the system to lower costs. And when we don't we can pay the price and encourage the status quo.
But obviously you will do what you want, I'm not following the thread anymore, just wanted to make my opinion clear. The system is fucked up, you got fucked by the system. But the answer isn't to cheat, the answer is to pay up, learn from your mistake, and fight to support those who are doing it right within the system. Share your experience on Facebook and suggest others learn from your mistakes. If paying cash everyone should know you can't just show up and expect to pay a fair amount, there are other options and you can save a huge amount using them.