Public Health-Care Costs Are for Patients, or So We Thought

Republicans have long argued that if patients could see medical prices upfront, they'd act like bargain hunters and push costs down. KFF Health News reports that hasn't happened. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have tried to force hospitals and insurers to publicly post prices, but compliance has been spotty, the data is dense and confusing, and patients mostly stick with the providers their doctors recommend rather than comparison-shop for MRIs or knee surgeries. "There's no evidence that patients use this information," Yale health economist Zack Cooper says.

Instead, per KFF, the real users of those price files are insurers and health systems, who now mine the data to sharpen contract negotiations and, in some cases, seek higher pay. A small crop of startups, like Turquoise Health, has sprung up into a cottage industry that crunches sprawling spreadsheets into leverage for both sides of the bargaining table. Researchers say there's little sign the transparency push is lowering prices for patients—and in at least one New York case, billed charges ticked up. Brookings, meanwhile, cites research that shows "price transparency has measurable effects," though it only works "in specific settings and for certain patients. ... To unlock its full potential, the health care system must go further." More here and here.