A new, first-in-the-nation online tool that compares prices for medical procedures across Colorado hospitals is part of the state鈥檚 strategy for bringing down healthcare costs.
鈥淲e should be angry, as Americans, at being ripped off by healthcare,鈥� Governor Jared Polis said at the website鈥檚 launch on Tuesday. 鈥淥ne of the key failings of the [healthcare] market is the lack of pricing transparency that doesn't allow for the competition to work as it does in any normal market: to bring down costs and create new efficiencies.鈥�
The service, called , lets users research and cross-reference the cost of specific medical procedures at hospitals across the state using publicly available price information. It was created by patient rights nonprofit organization PatientRightsAdvocates.org.
Patients can use the price finder to find out which hospital in their network has the lowest price for a certain procedure. The tool provides a list of costs based on an individual鈥檚 health coverage. Final costs, however, can still vary depending on insurance plan variations and extra fees.
The hope is that giving the public the ability to compare prices will hold providers accountable, prevent price gouging and ultimately put pressure on medical groups to reduce their costs. In Colorado, PatientRightsAdvocates.org found that the same medical procedure varies in price by an average of 31 times depending on the hospital and a patient鈥檚 insurance coverage.
鈥淲hich is an outrage if we saw that at the gas pump. No one would want to pay 31 times more for a tank of gas than the next person,鈥� PatientRightsAdvocates.org founder and chair Cynthia Fisher said at the website鈥檚 launch. 鈥淭his is the beginning of the great reveal where patients are now starting to be empowered.鈥�
Polis says the new tool also complements a separate healthcare price comparison service sponsored by the state called the that launched last month.
鈥淭he more ways that make it easier for people to access that information, the better,鈥� Polis said.
Both healthcare price finders build on state legislation passed in recent years increasing hospital price transparency requirements. That includes that blocked hospitals from pursuing debt collection if they don鈥檛 comply with federal transparency requirements and that requires hospitals to publicly post reimbursement rates.
Hospitals have been required by the federal government to post pricing information since 2021.
