I think the point of making the lists public is to provide information that can lead to iterative improvements. I'm not sure it will do that but I'm a bit more confident that it is a necessary first step.
I thought the lists were a red herring for the problems with privatized healthcare - i.e. look at how complicated pricing is, not how it is being complicated by for-profit middlemen.
One interesting aspect of the No Surprises Act regulations that would seem to support your claim is the three hour required waiting period for non-emergency same-day procedures. The waiting period is ostensibly to prevent patients from feeling rushed or pressured into agreeing the price but the "long wait" boogeyman is another common red herring in the healthcare discussion and the three-hour wait seems unnecessary. The wait applies only in non-emergency situations so logic would follow that if the quoted price were too high the patient could leave.
