Medicare Rates to Become Transparent
In the months to come the federal administration will post on the web how much Medicare is paying for hospital procedures. Along with increased transparency about quality, this should empower patients to do healthcare comparison shopping much like they’re already able to as consumers of other products and services. It is often claimed that everyone is charged the same price, only Medicare and big insurance companies get a volume discount. However, it seems the discrepancy can be huge, with uninsured customers paying up to four times what insured patients pay for the same treatment.
If you add up Medicare, Medicaid, the VA and other institutions, the federal government accounts for 46 percent of the total healthcare market. This critical mass gives it a lot of leverage. Officials hope that making the extent of that leverage public will push hospitals towards pricing more fair to all. The Washington Post reports.
March 17, 2006 Related topics: Trends