The government continues to step in to try and help the American people with the rising costs of healthcare. An HHS proposal would shed light on the secret negotiated prices insurance companies pay. Making these prices public would infuse much-needed competition into health care’s bloated secret pricing and potentially drive down costs for patients while increasing competition for patients. As the employers wait for any government help to make the needed changes, Medxoom’s modern marketplace technology can help provide price transparency on current wide cost variations for the same medical services among providers.
Surprise out of network medical billing continues to plague patients all across our nation. Even though Bob Ensor was rushed to an in-network hospital, he was treated by two out-of-network plastic surgeons. Ensor then incurred over $167,000 in out of network bills from the surgeons his health insurer denied. Emergency situations seldom allow patients to check network coverages, and in this case the hospital knew the surgeons were out-of-network, but did not provide this information. The general lack of pricing and in or out of network doctors information in healthcare is an issue Medxoom can help employers with by educating patients to always ask doctors if they are in or out of network before getting treatment.
The Hill argues that we do not currently have a true marketplace for health care due to the lack of information available to patients. The lack of transparency in pricing leads patients to have to suffer through the pain of over paying and surprise billing. Patients need to be informed about their options in order to feel empowered to make decisions for their own health. Medxoom can help health plan members with modern marketplace technologies to compare medical services for price and quality before getting treatment.
If big hospital systems are defrauding Medicare and the U.S. government, imagine what might be happening with employer health plans. Patients and employers need to beware of unnecessary procedures and inflated pricing. Medxoom’s proprietary comparison shopping technology can give employers and their employees the insights they need to help avoid inflated pricing and unnecessary billing.
The lack of price consistency among healthcare providers traps unsuspecting patients into paying too much — if they ever find out. Patients seldom know what something will cost before getting a procedure done. Since the system is shrouded in secrecy, it hinders efforts by consumers and employers to lower the nation’s health care costs. Medxoom’s proprietary comparison shopping technology helps patients chose high quality low cost providers before service to save money and improve outcomes.
Price Calculators are one of the few tools patients have to help shed light on the murky prices across the Healthcare industry, but not always accurate. One patient, Michelle Smith, used her insurance company’s price tool to shop for the costs of her upcoming MRI. Unfortunately, the tool Smith used was incorrect, resulting in a shock when she received her bill. Smith expected to pay between $783 and $1,375 for her MRI, according to UnitedHealthcare’s price estimator, but received a bill for $3,237 because she had the MRI in a hospital, not a cheaper free standing radiology center. Had her employer used Medxoom’s proprietary pre-service price and quality comparison tool, she would have been easily notified to NOT get an MRI in a hospital for the lowest price and could have compared the same service across multiple locations outside of a hospital within her network and near her home.
Consumers know very little about the middlemen contributing to ever increasing healthcare U.S. costs. Both middlemen like Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and secret health insurance company contract prices with hospitals recently have been discussed by lawmakers. There have been discussions in the White House and Congress to make changes to eliminate PBM rebates and to make hospital prices with health insurance companies open and public in an attempt to drive down healthcare costs. As policies continue to change, Medxoom now provides employers and employees with valuable price and quality information before service to make better informed decisions about their healthcare needs.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar called on employers to do their part in driving down healthcare costs and helping employees better navigate the health system. HHS is tasked with driving down healthcare costs and Azar is asking employers to help “do [their] part” as well. The ultimate goal is to drive down healthcare costs and help employees navigate the complicated healthcare system. Medxoom drives modern healthcare marketplaces by helping employers and employees compare provider quality and price before getting a medical procedure, resulting in lower costs and happier patients.
While the majority of doctors and hospitals are honest, a bribery and kickback trial in Texas convicting four doctors reminds us that patients need to be ever vigilant for their own health and financial interest. Patients tend to trust their doctors at their word, but need to be aware that surgery and surgical referrals are big revenue generators for hospitals and doctors and not always necessary. Powering Modern Healthcare Marketplaces, Medxoom helps provide discovery on price and quality before any medical procedure.
According to Politico, one of the biggest impacts of Obamacare is the rise in tax-exempt not-for-profit hospitals’ revenue and their concurrent reductions in charity care. High and unknown costs before service are standard procedure at most hospitals, so employers need to fend for themselves. Medxoom’s modern marketplace technologies help employers and their employees shine a light on local hospital care quality and costs so they can try to get the best outcome at the best price.