To the Editor:

In your article on the cost of echo cardiograms [“Rabner Questioned On High Cost of UMCPP Test,” page one, Dec. 24, 2014], Mr. Rabner never says where the price of $5400 came from. He claims that Medicare requires a price, but does not say who is responsible for the number. Nor does he say what the various private insurance plans pay for the procedure. Is it possible that the $5400 is used as a basis for the negotiations?

This is just another example of the total lack of transparency displayed by the U.S. health care system.

Len Charlap

Heather Lane