Jean Rexford likes to point out that when she buys a car, she knows the cost, the quality and what to do if something goes wrong.

"There's nothing in health care, where I'm spending a lot more money, that I can do that," said Rexford, executive director of the Connecticut Center for Patient Safety.

In fact, Connecticut earned grades of "F" on two recent national scorecards that ranked states by the availability of information on health care price and quality for consumers.

This year, some top legislators have their sights set on addressing what they see as troubling changes in the state's health care landscape.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney and Minority Leader Len Fasano teamed up to develop a series of proposals focused on the growth of large hospital systems, hospitals' acquisitions of physician practices and what the two lawmakers warn are the increased costs that result from both.

The proposals have been criticized by hospital officials and some others in health care, and are likely to undergo changes before a final version emerges.

But there's a less controversial thread in some of their proposals, one that has backing, at least in concept, from health care industry groups that don't always agree: increasing transparency about health care costs.

As Rexford noted, the basic tools most people are used to having when shopping are still largely unavailable or underused in health care. It can be difficult for patients to find out in advance what medical care will cost, or to compare price and quality options when picking a doctor or a facility to have a test done.

And yet, many people have insurance plans that increasingly require them to pay a larger share of their medical expenses.

"We cannot vest consumers with these responsibilities without being fully committed to providing them with all the information they need," the Connecticut Association of Health Plans said in written testimony on the proposals.

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In Controversial Health Care Bills, Some Agreement On Transparency