The 'fake' price is due to the negotiation of reimbursement between major healthcare chains and insurers. The most regulated piece - Medicare - is the only piece where there's fairly transparent pricing.
And why is this so prevalent? It's subject to huge subsidy and regulatory capture
Because the law doesn't force them not to?
It's very wild to me that you're like "This organization is lying to me, so what we need less of is people telling them what to do."