About halfway through a 90-minute presentation on why Iowa Health-Des Moines ought to be given permission by state regulators to build a new hospital in West Des Moines, an interesting footnote cropped up.

When this newspaper’s editorial board asked how Iowa Health intended to pay for the $82 million facility, Chief Executive Eric Crowell said if need be, “we could pay cash.”

That Iowa Health has that much money lying around, we thought, was interesting enough to note. Any regular business would call it the result of profits. That word, of course, is verboten in the often-arcane world of not-for-profit enterprises, where managers tend to prefer such gentle-sounding terms as “surplus.”

Whatever you call it, the money comes from charging more for services than those services cost. Iowa Health has other sources of income, too, including donations. In fact, it hopes that philanthropy will pay $28 million toward the proposed Michael R. Myers hospital, and already has raised nearly $20 million in the effort.

Now we’re not against profits. Far from it. We encourage profit-making.

But in a market system, it is imperative that consumers have information about what their dollars are buying, and how much products cost. Go to any restaurant or retailer, and prices are displayed prominently.

Unfortunately, price transparency doesn’t extend to the world of medicine. What does Doctor A charge to set a broken leg? What’s the bill for an MRI at Hospital B? These are unknowns to the vast majority of Americans. We suspect, given the myriad funding schemes propping up our nation’s health-care system, including reimbursements from the federal government, co-payment plans, employer contributions and insurance coverage, that many doctors and hospital administrators couldn’t answer the question themselves.

That has to change.

Health-care costs are spiraling upward at a frantic pace. Business Publications Corp., our corporate parent, has been told it will cost 25 percent more next year to provide health insurance for its workers, on top of a 34 percent increase this year. We’re not alone.

A variety of factors contribute to these higher costs, of course. Americans live longer than they ever have, and health-care expenses escalate with age. Drug makers spend millions to develop brand-name drugs, and millions more to market them. Modern medicine is expensive, yet capable of miraculous things.

To rein in these costs, consumers are being encouraged to make wiser choices when it comes to health care. Choose generic drugs when possible. Visit clinics, not emergency rooms. But unless consumers are empowered with knowledge of pricing, good choices — and true competition — are impossible.

All of Iowa’s health-care providers, including hospitals, insurance companies and especially doctors, bear responsibility in this effort. All of this is relevant as the Health Facilities Council gathers Feb. 2-3 to decide whether to grant Iowa Health permission to build its hospital.