U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has introduced legislation that he believes will help do that.  It would make the Medicare claims database more transparent.

He says it would help people compare what they're getting for their healthcare dollars.

"And my sense is the day you make public the medicare databse, you would have a new baseline for healthcare all over the country.  If someone has an employer based plan or an HSA, you could look at what medicare is paying in their area for the services and you'd have that comparison and you can look at whether the services are out of sync."

Senator Wyden's legislation was introduced in the senate last month and a companion bill was introduced in the House last week.