The poll, sponsored by HealthMarkets, found that only one out of three Americans say they have discussed health care treatment costs with a doctor in the past five years. Fewer still – 17 percent – specifically asked for a lower price.

“Consumers routinely negotiate the cost of a car, home or services like those from a real estate agent or lender, ” said Peter Gaillard, HealthMarkets Vice President of Product Development. “But when it comes to health care prices, Americans seem to have lost the will to shop. ”

The most likely patients to ask for a lower price are those between the ages of 18 and 34 -- 21 percent asked for a lower price, the HealthMarkets poll found. The least likely are those between 35 and 54 (14 percent). Sixteen percent of those 55 and over said they had asked for a lower price.

People with lower incomes and less education are more likely to negotiate with their doctor over the price of care. Only 14 percent of college graduates asked for a lower price, while 23 percent of those with a high school education or less did. One out of 5 (21 percent) of those with an income less than $50,000 a year negotiated. Half as many -- 10 percent -- with incomes of $75,000 or more said they have negotiated health care costs.

Americans gave several reasons for not asking their doctor for lower priced care. More than half (58 percent) said they were unaware that prices may be negotiable, while 52 percent cited the inability to compare prices. One in three (31 percent) don ’t think health care costs should be negotiable. Middle and upper income households in particular said the inability to compare costs is a barrier.

A wide majority of Americans say health care costs too much. Seven out of 10 Americans said the average $11,000 cost to insure a family of four is more than it should be. Nearly half (49 percent) said it is “much more ” than it should be.

Nevertheless, two in three polled said they usually don ’t know how much a treatment will cost them out-of-pocket until they receive the bill.

The vast majority (83 percent) said it would be helpful to know what their out-of-pocket cost for a treatment will be before they receive the bill.

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted among a sample of 1,043 adults (530 men and 513 women) 18 years of age and older, in the continental United States. Interviews were weighted by four variables: age, sex, geographic region, and race, to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total adult population. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for the entire sample. Smaller sub-groups will have larger error margins.