Health Care Cost Transparency Movement

The actual cost of health care is not readily available to consumers like shopping for a new car or  home. Most people really don't pay attention to the actual cost since  insurance companies or the government  covers the medical payments. In contrast, when it comes to higher deductibles and out of pocket expenses, then there is the rationale of knowing the cost up front for medical procedures such as child-birth, hip replacement, etc. A movement is gaining momentum in South Dakota legislature with Senate Bill 182, where the pricing of medical procedures would be expanded and readily available as is currently being done  over the Internet on the South Dakota Hospital Pricing Information web site

South Dakota could be a pioneer in transparency of health care costs if a bill to expand the amount of pricing information hospitals must disclose is passed by the Legislature.

Source: argusleader.com via watermon

A real problem in the United States is the 45 million Americans without health insurance. Currently Americans are spending nearly $2 trillion on health care or nearly 16 percent of GDP and is expected to nearly double by 2015. Would health care cost transparency help reduce this financial burden? Doctors Steffie Woolhandler and David Mimmelestein who teach at Havard Medical School dont't think so.

Transparency won't cut costs, but national health insurance would. A single-payer system could save $300 billion annually on health bureaucracy by eliminating paperwork and exorbitant CEO incomes. It could avoid the duplication of transplant facilities that raises costs and worsens quality. It would also reduce unnecessary surgery and other harmful procedures.

Source: usatoday.com via watermon

I'm all for finding lower costs. For example,   when shopping at my local Wal-Mart down the street, I know that most of the times the item  purchased is cheaper than where I could  find anywhere else. So why not go shopping at Wal-Mart for health care also? That will soon be possible, as Wal-Mart has signed a letter of  intent with RediClinic, LLC in the opening of clinics in many the the Wal-Mart Supercenters.

Wal-Mart has signed a letter of intent to work with RediClinic, LLC and local hospital systems to open co-branded walk-in clinics in 200 Wal-Mart Supercenters. Wal-Mart has also signed a letter of intent to partner directly with St. Vincent Health System, a part of the Catholic Healthcare Initiatives system, to open four co-branded clinics in Little Rock.

Source: money.cnn.com via watermon

Whats especially unique about this walk-in clinic concept at Wal-Mart is the approach in health care cost transparency  where consumers know ths cost up front just as if they where shopping the aisles for an household item.

Sources
Sioux Falls Argus Leader
USA Today
CNN Money

Resource
South Dakota Hospital Pricing Information

NowPublic

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