Good Deals on Pills? It’s Anyone’s Guess
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL, NYT
THIS month, a dysfunctional website stymied hundreds of thousands of Americans trying to check out new health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act. But that embarrassing technical glitch may have masked a more fundamental question: Can Americans shop effectively for health care?
Most developed countries do not even ask their citizens to be smart health care consumers; in one way or another, they control prices and offer a more constrained array of options. But Americans are fans of freedom and choice — or at least the illusion of it. And they have cast their lot with so-called consumer driven health care.
In the past five years there has been a proliferation of services to help consumers with their deliberations. The American Board of Internal Medicine began the “Choosing Wisely” campaign to steer patients away from tests that may be unnecessary. Websites like Health Care Bluebook, Fair Health and Clear Health Costs use insurance databases and patient crowdsourcing to find the going rates in local areas. The Affordable Care Act provides $70 million for “patient navigators” to find the best deals for particular health needs.
Useful tools to be sure. But many economists say that placing the onus on buyers is unrealistic and unfair, especially given the way a vast majority of Americans get their health care. “You can’t really be a well-informed consumer right now because our current system is not set up to give the consumer relevant information on price, quality, services and access,” said Glenn Melnick, professor of health care finance at the University of Southern California.
(More here.)
THIS month, a dysfunctional website stymied hundreds of thousands of Americans trying to check out new health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act. But that embarrassing technical glitch may have masked a more fundamental question: Can Americans shop effectively for health care?
Most developed countries do not even ask their citizens to be smart health care consumers; in one way or another, they control prices and offer a more constrained array of options. But Americans are fans of freedom and choice — or at least the illusion of it. And they have cast their lot with so-called consumer driven health care.
In the past five years there has been a proliferation of services to help consumers with their deliberations. The American Board of Internal Medicine began the “Choosing Wisely” campaign to steer patients away from tests that may be unnecessary. Websites like Health Care Bluebook, Fair Health and Clear Health Costs use insurance databases and patient crowdsourcing to find the going rates in local areas. The Affordable Care Act provides $70 million for “patient navigators” to find the best deals for particular health needs.
Useful tools to be sure. But many economists say that placing the onus on buyers is unrealistic and unfair, especially given the way a vast majority of Americans get their health care. “You can’t really be a well-informed consumer right now because our current system is not set up to give the consumer relevant information on price, quality, services and access,” said Glenn Melnick, professor of health care finance at the University of Southern California.
(More here.)
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