Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
What Ails You? New Tool Sheds Light On Health Care Prices
Kaiser Health News: Attention, Shoppers: Prices For 70 Health Care Procedures Now Online!
Buying health care in America is like shopping blindfolded at Macy’s and getting the bill months after you leave the store, economist Uwe Reinhardt likes to say. A tool that went online Wednesday is supposed to give patients a small peek at the products and prices before they open their wallets. Got a sore knee? Having a baby? Need a primary-care doctor? Shopping for an MRI scan? Guroo.com shows the average local cost for 70 common diagnoses and medical tests in most states. That’s the real cost — not “charges” that often get marked down — based on a giant database of what insurance companies actually pay. (Hancock, 2/25)
Modern Healthcare: Insurers Reveal What Health Care Providers Are Paid
Healthcare consumers have a new tool to compare prices using data from some of the largest U.S. health insurers, but comparison shopping will remain a challenge for most. On Wednesday the Health Care Cost Institute, a not-for-profit healthcare research organization, launched the first of two websites conceived to help consumers navigate prices for medical services. The website—named Guroo—allows consumers to search for average prices for 70 services across more than 300 hundred cities, 41 states, coastal California and the District of Columbia. (Evans, 2/25)
In other cost-related news, the Associated Press offers consumers these insights -
The Associated Press: 5 Tips For Handling Early-Year Medical Expenses
Deductibles topping $3,000 are common among plans sold on the health care overhaul's public insurance exchanges, which provide coverage for millions. Companies also have been raising deductibles for years on employer-sponsored health plans, the most common form of coverage in the United States. Plus cost-sharing requirements for Medicare prescription drug coverage renew every year. (2/25)
