Price Transparency: What’s the Health Care Consumer to Do? (Part 5 of 5)

The health care consumer who wants to know the price of a service or procedure—before receiving care—can find the answer by:

• Looking to the health care provider as the best source of information. After all, a patient is ultimately responsible to pay the provider’s bill for any care she receives.
• Starting online. If the health plan is a major carrier like Aetna or UnitedHealthcare, the patient is likely to find information that is reasonably useful.
• Alternatively, checking out the many public and private websites that claim to provide provider-specific data. The quality and quantity of information will vary significantly.
• Calling the provider’s business office or visiting in person. These professionals can also apply a health plan’s financial terms (e.g., deductible) to estimate out-of-pocket expenses.
• If the patient has had previous medical care, reviewing a billing statement and/or explanation of benefits. The information—or something close—may be there.

Before getting started, any health care consumer should ask her doctor or health care professional for the name of the medical service(s) or procedure(s) in lay and medical terms.

But most importantly, the patient should get covered. It sounds simple, but the best way for anyone to protect themselves financially from the “cost” of health care is to be insured.