Healthcare Daily Digest for Tuesday, 19 March: Everyone Fails at Healthcare Price Transparency

While it may have the market cornered on beautiful (plastic) people and (narcissistic) movie stars, California isn’t good at one thing: posting healthcare prices.

“California consumers don’t have easy access to actual prices for medical care, according to a national report card that gave the state a D for its dismal showing,” the L.A. Times tells us. (California HealthLine jumps in, too, with its headline: “California Receives ‘D’ Grade for Health Care Price Transparency.”)

California isn’t the sole worst; 36 other states received a D or F on that particular report card. This is an issue that’s getting more attention now that consumers are expected to make sound financial decisions with their healthcare dollars. If we don’t know the price of something, it’s hard to know how to budget effectively.

“Without price transparency, consumers will continue to pay widely ranging amounts for the same exact services with no difference in quality,” said Suzanne Delbanco, executive director of Catalyst for Payment Reform, an employer-backed group based in San Francisco. “Consumers want to know what are they going to pay out of pocket if they pick one provider over another. We hope this report card spurs states to act to help consumers further,” Delbanco added.

Tuesday’s headlines:

Hooray For My Home State!: “Oregon’s Gov. John Kitzhaber has signed a bill creating a new mediation process for patients injured by medical mistakes.”

If We’re Letting the Free Market Set the Pace for Healthcare, Then Competition is Good, Right?: “Hospitals could face significantly more competition for routine surgeries under a bill that proponents say could save N.C. patients and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”