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NH gets ‘A’ for health cost transparency

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A new report gave New Hampshire an A grade for health care price transparency.  New Hampshire, Maine, and Colorado were the only states to get an A. 

The report card was developed by the not-for-profit Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute and non-profit Catalyst for Payment Reform.  States were graded based on the scope and detail of information available through public websites. 

The website NHHealthCost.org uses claims data from insurance companies to let consumers compare health care providers' prices for various procedures.

Ideally consumers use NHHealthCost.org to choose less expensive health care providers.  The charge for a medical procedure can vary widely from one provider to the next, with no difference in the quality of care.

“People in the Granite State do their research before any important purchase, such as buying a car,” said New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny. “They ought to have that same right when it comes to their health care expenses. We created the HealthCost website for them.”

However, many consumers are unaware of the ability to compare health care prices.  A recent study from Harvard Medical School found that only 10% of people used a health care price comparison website available to them.  

Even when consumers use a cost comparison website, they may still choose more expensive health care providers, assuming that a higher cost correlates with higher quality care.  Alternatively, if a patient's insurance plan absorbs cost variations, consumers may have no motivation to change providers.

Do you think health care cost transparency websites make a difference?  Let us know in the comments.

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