If we could use the consumer model to drive down the costs of non-emergency care in addition to other methods to drive down the overall costs maybe we could get somewhere.
If I understand you correctly, you are advocating for more consumer responsibility when choosing non-emergency medical procedures.
I think that would be a very large mistake.
For starters, it would place more of the burden on the individuals, who know far less about the procedures, their costs and their risks. It would also slow down care when a core focus of medicine over the last several decades has been to reduce the time from diagnosis to treatment.
Here's a not uncommon scenario as an example; you start having pain in one side, fatigue and a rash, so you make an appointment with your doctor. Upon examination, the doctor thinks it could be one of three different things, A, B or C. A is somewhat common, no life threatening but the test is often inconclusive and takes several days. B is uncommon but potentially severe; its test is expensive but you get the results immediately. C is somewhat rare, the diagnosis is inexpensive but often painful (an injection with acute muscle soreness lasting for days).
If we ask the patient to take responsibility for the financial decisions, s/he will have to start calling around to various clinics asking for the costs of A/B/C. This patient would need to call several places and get quotes on three different proceedures - s/he might make a matrix showing which place has the best cost for which proceedure. Since the cheapest test might be someplace else, it delays a diagnosis. Given human nature, the patient will typically avoid test B even though its the first test a doctor would recommend because a doctor will want to rule out the worst things first. When forced to make decisions based on economics a patient will go with the cheapest options first in the hopes that this will solve the problem - often putting themselves at risk if it is something else. Patients also tend to avoid tests that are painful simply because we have an aversion to pain - importantly the likelihood of someone going through with this test (C) goes down if they are given lots of time to procrastinate. That's why a doctor's bedside manner training involves coaching a patient to take a test that is unpleasant.
All of this is for something that's fairly routine, and when the tests are simple. Often one test won't give a definitive answer, but will lead to the next test - an x-ray will rule out a fractured rib, suggesting it could be an infection (requiring a blood panel) or acute inflammation (a sonogram). Again the patient would need to start calling clinics to get prices for each procedure, then make a decision about which one to test for first. This diagnostic train can go on for several steps, and if the patient were responsible each step creates the potential for the individual to delay care and make the wrong decision.