SPRINGFIELD -- Before most people spend thousands on a new car or television set, they usually do some comparison-shopping.  Yet, Americans spent $2 trillion on health care last year but most patients didn't shop for the best prices.  To try to help, we researched what hospitals in the Ozarks charge.

 At least one medical clinic in the area not only makes its prices public but also uses them to attract customers.  More and more patients want to know what it’s going to cost before they get treatment.

  Fighting to save her hand after a vicious pit bull attack, Ray Lynn Rufer never imagined she'd be haggling over the price of health care.  But there she was, surrounded by bills, bargaining with CoxHealth.

  "When I pressed her, she said, ‘Well, I can give you five percent,’ and I said, ‘Five percent for almost $10,000?’” said Rufer.

  She eventually negotiated a 10-percent discount after she paid the whole bill -- on time.

  KY3 News discovered that's not CoxHealth’s best offer.  A representative for Cox Health says the company offers a 25-percent discount to patients without insurance who pay in full within 60 days.  St. John’s offers a 15-percent discount to uninsured patients.

  Rufer says, as a patient, she's tired of being shut out when it comes to medical pricing.

  "Why shouldn't you be able to shop it?" she wondered.

  We decided to give it a try.  KY3 sent a letter to area hospitals, asking for their prices, and four responded. Cox, St John's, Citizens Memorial Hospital and Skaggs gave us their prices for 10 procedures and medications.

  An appendectomy costs on average $13,533 at St. John’s, $14,000 at Cox and $16,200 at Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar.  A private room at CMH costs $537.75, at St. John’s $615 on average, and $667 at Cox.  Tylenol number three with codeine will run you $3.73 at Cox, $4.40 at CMH, and $8 at St. John’s.

  Hospital officials say decreasing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements do affect what insured patients pay.

  "As reimbursements decline on both of those government sponsored programs there is a tendency to shift some of that cost to the insured customers." said Mike Peters, a St. John's vice president.

  There’s a company on the Web that says even those prices don't have to be final.  My Medical Control says it will bargain with health care providers on behalf of patients.  The company says it’s saved people thousands.  Just send it your bills and the company will negotiate and you only pay My Medical Control if it saves you money.

  "There’s a strong and, in our opinion, long-term trend toward people spending more of their own money on health care products and services,” said Tom Cochrane, a spokesman for VIMO.

  Cochrane says higher deductibles and health care savings accounts have made his site, VIMO.com, popular.  It allows people to price procedures at their local hospitals and at hospitals around the country.

  It has information on St. John’s but a representative of St. John’s doesn't know much about VIMO.

  “They're new to us. Your inquiry about them to us was the first time we've heard about them." said Peters.

  CoxHealth officials also didn't have experience with the site. Still, Cochrane says his site’s business is booming.

  "This is a new trend and there is a big information void in terms of people having access to information about prices and quality, and that is the need we see to fill through VIMO." he said.

  After living through that information void, Rufer believes consumers deserve price transparency.

  "Why shouldn't you be able to go in and call a hospital or a doctor and find out what the specific charges are going to be for whatever procedure you're considering having done or needs to be done?” she asked.