News
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CNBC: Children are using health services less – but medical costs still rising
Read more: CNBC: Children are using health services less – but medical costs still risingBy: Dan Mangan Kids are going to the doctor’s office and emergency rooms less often, and even using fewer prescription drugs — but overall health spending on children is still going up. A study released Monday by the Health Care Cost Institute indicates that price increases for health services and brand-name drugs were the biggest…
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Healthzette: The Health Savings We’re Missing – Cost transparency tools exist … yet we’re not using them
Read more: Healthzette: The Health Savings We’re Missing – Cost transparency tools exist … yet we’re not using themBy: Kristen Fischer We have the tools to shop around and save on health care costs — but we aren’t using them. A new Harvard Medical School study reveals that consumer access to price transparency tools doesn’t make them any more popular or likely to decrease health care spending. Do we not want to save…
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Becker’s Hospital Review: No 2 prices the same – 13 different findings on healthcare price variation across the U.S.
Read more: Becker’s Hospital Review: No 2 prices the same – 13 different findings on healthcare price variation across the U.S.By: Kelly Gooch Commercially insured Americans in some states pay more than twice what their counterparts in other states pay for healthcare, according to a study from the Health Care Cost Institute. The study, published in Health Affairs, is accompanied by HCCI’s National Chartbook of Health Care Prices—2015, which highlights differences in prices for more…
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USA Today: Huge health care price differences even within same area, by state
Read more: USA Today: Huge health care price differences even within same area, by stateBy: Jayne O’Donnell Huge variations exist in the prices of some of the most common medical procedures across state lines, by according to a report major insurers released Wednesday, but some experts say the data is of little use to consumers who rarely know what they owe until the bills arrive. The insurer-funded Health Care…
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Modern Healthcare: The striking variation of commercial healthcare prices
Tags: Geographic VariationRead more: Modern Healthcare: The striking variation of commercial healthcare pricesBy: Bob Herman Price and utilization are the two essential elements of the nation’s health spending tab, and seemingly wild differences in prices for common medical procedures appear to be driving that bill up a lot. One of the most comprehensive, independent studies of commercial healthcare prices shows that employers and insurers that provide private…
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Vox: How much does the chicken pox vaccine cost? Depends on where you live
Read more: Vox: How much does the chicken pox vaccine cost? Depends on where you liveBy: Sarah Kliff How much you pay for health care often depends on one key fact: where you live. A new study of more than 1 billion medical bills makes this fact abundantly clear. It shows huge variation in the price of basic medical procedures like ultrasounds, annual physicals, or cataract removals. Consider this: An…
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NPR: That Surgery Might Cost You A Lot Less In Another Town
Read more: NPR: That Surgery Might Cost You A Lot Less In Another TownBy: Alison Kodjak Need knee replacement surgery? It may be worthwhile to head for Tucson. That’s because the average price for a knee replacement in the Arizona city is $21,976, about $38,000 less than it would in Sacramento, Calif. That’s according to a report issued Wednesday by the Health Care Cost Institute. The report, called…
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Forbes: Don’t Be Fooled – Patients Can Shop For Healthcare
Read more: Forbes: Don’t Be Fooled – Patients Can Shop For HealthcareBy: Yevgeniy Feyman Price and quality transparency in health care has often been seen as the missing link for extracting more value out of our health care system. With the appropriate financial incentives, along with easily accessible cost estimators and information on physician and hospital quality, patients could flock to the lowest-cost, highest-quality providers. But…
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KHN: Consumer Choice Doesn’t Significantly Lower Healthcare Spending – Study
Read more: KHN: Consumer Choice Doesn’t Significantly Lower Healthcare Spending – StudyA new study throws cold water on the popular idea that consumers can save themselves and the health care system loads of money if they become savvier shoppers for health care services. The analysis by the Health Care Cost Institute focused on what consumers paid out of pocket, where comparison shopping can result in lower…
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The Washington Post: Why Savvy Shoppers Can’t Fix Health-Care Spending
Read more: The Washington Post: Why Savvy Shoppers Can’t Fix Health-Care SpendingIn an article from Carolyn Johnson of The Washington Post, it is postulated that there are many different reasons Americans cannot fix the often high prices of health care. “One popular view of how to corral out-of-control health-care spending is to empower smart shoppers — to arm individual patients with the information and incentives to shop around for…