• Home

Bernd Meier

Home health care costs health insurance health transparency legislation state government Health foundation says consumers need price transparency; Medicaid health officer says some commercial interests want it

Health foundation says consumers need price transparency; Medicaid health officer says some commercial interests want it

Written by Unknown on 7:23 PM ,
Kentucky Health News

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky says a major step needed to improve the health of Kentuckians is transparency of their health-care cost and quality.

"Consumers can (then) compare apples to apples," Susan Zepeda, the Foundation's president and CEO, told Greg Stotelmyer of Public News Service. "What is a particular procedure going to cost if I have it at this hospital versus that outpatient surgery center? What are my co-pays going to be or my deductibles under my insurance plan?"

The foundation recently recommended that Kentucky develop and establish an all-payer claims database, or APCD, for consumers and stakeholders as a tool for transparency. John Langefeld, chief medical officer of the state's Department of Medicaid Services, told Stotelmyer that "support for the idea is growing, including from many on the commercial side of health care."

But this type of transparency is not likely to happen without a law to require it, which Kentucky does not have, Stotelmyer reports.

Massachusetts is the only state that requires the type of health-care transparency the foundation is talking about. And while it is not a perfect system, with reported prices not reflecting all of the involved charges, frequent price changes and weak information about the quality of care, it is still "unlike anything else in the country," Martha Bebinger reports for Kaiser Health News.

Oregon could possibly become the second state to require health-care transparency. Two bills for it are pending in the current legislative session. One that would require hospitals to reveal their median prices for common inpatient and outpatient procedures, "is expected to get very little opposition as it makes its way through the legislative session," Chris Willis reports for KGW in Portland.

But physician and system theorist Deane Waldman argues in the Huffington Post that price transparency won't work. She says that transparency can't reflect the real cost of health-care, doesn't reflect health outcomes or quality of care, and when it does reflect outcomes, it only reflects the average outcome and not individual probabilities. She also says that because the current health-care in the U.S. is not a free market, consumers have no reason to economize.

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky disagrees. "Sunshine on pricing will make sure that we're all playing by the same rules," Zepeda told Stotelmyer. Kentucky has the ability to gather the data, but it still needs "the political will" to do so, she said.

Tweet
Newer Post Older Post

Popular Posts

  • Lexington is considering whether to add electronic cigarettes to its anti-smoking ordinance
    The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council will discuss whether to expand its smoking ban to include electronic cigarettes, possibly as earl...
  • As part of UK campus food deal, Aramark puts up $5 million for Food Connection, vows to purchase Kentucky products
    By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The University of Kentucky has entered a $5 million public-private partnership designed to promote ...
  • Heavy use of e-cigarettes may deliver big doses of formaldehyde, which can be a cause of lung cancer, study suggests
    Vapor produced by electronic cigarettes can contain a surprisingly high concentration of formaldehyde—a known carcinogen that can cause lun...
  • Ten common myths about diabetes busted
    Kentucky ranks 17th in diabetes, and many Kentuckians are newly diagnosed every year with the disease, usually Type 2 diabetes. The diagnosi...
  • Ky. ranks 8th in the number of high-prescribing Medicare physicians for powerful narcotic painkillers and stimulants
    Kentucky ranks eighth in Medicare physicians who are considered "high prescribers" of Schedule 2 medications, drugs that have the ...
  • Newport school board's smoking ban, which includes e-cigarettes, would be 38th among 173 Kentucky school districts
    The Newport Independent Board of Education  passed the first reading of a proposed smoking ban Wednesday, Jan. 28 after adding electronic ci...
  • Millions of children on Medicaid are missing free check-ups; Kentucky is a little below the national average
    Millions of low-income children across the country aren't getting free preventive exams and screenings guaranteed by Medicaid, and some ...
  • Obamacare seems to be no plus for Kentucky Democrats, perhaps mainly because of the word's first three syllables
    Though the federal health-reform law has helped cover more than half a million Kentuckians and cut the state's uninsured population by h...
  • McConnell seeks 'timely and fair review' of plan for Medicare coverage of CT scans for those at high risk for lung cancer
    U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell asked Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services  Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to "give a timely and fair r...
  • Research suggests eating only during a nine- to 12-hour time period can help maintain healthy weight
    For a long time, scientists supposed that eating after midnight was unhealthy, but now a study has provided support for the notion. When sci...
Bernd Meier © . All Rights Reserved. Powered by Blogger