why can I not find "up front" pricing for surgical procedures in the USA?

Rather than checking with a hospital, who often charge based on how good your insurance coverage is, ask at an insurance office. They can give you a real good estimate, and even tell you which hospitals in your area offer the better price, (provided your city is big enough to offer a choice). A lot of surgery is based on how long an operation takes, either with or without complications. Since everybody is different, some will have no problems, and others will take much longer, consequently costing much more.

It depends on the doctor. Also wether you have it done at a hospital or an out patient surgery center. But if you have insurance, it also depends on what insurance, because the place you have it done and the doctor are only able to charge what the insurance tells them to charge. The only thing you can do is check with your insurance and the doctor.

If they did that, they wouldn't be able to soak you for things like $100 per word spoken.

call your insurance and they can give you pricing.