How to plan for your medical bill like a health reporter

Having a baby is about the ultimate “shoppable” health care experience, since you have roughly nine months to pick where to deliver.

As a health reporter, I have more experience with hospital prices than many people, so I thought I’d use my own situation of choosing where to have my baby as a demonstration of how to figure out what you might pay when you know you’ll need care.

For years, people who study the economics of health care have debated whether giving people more transparent...