Source: KY3
Since early last week, On Your Side reached out to CoxHealth multiple times asking for an interview. After the story aired, we received this statement:
“In health care, there are many variables – from insurance coverage to the complexity of a medical case – which can make it challenging to accurately estimate costs ahead of a medical procedure.
While insurance covers much of the cost of care, some insurance companies choose to pass along a portion of the cost, directly to consumers. We actively work to help consumers understand what their responsibilities are in this exceedingly complex environment.
For most scheduled procedures, our teams provide a good-faith estimate based on the information provided, and we work to help patients understand their insurance benefits and what portion of the total cost they may be responsible for. In addition, CoxHealth offers estimates completely self-service, directly on our website. While these can be great tools for certain shoppable services, we encourage consumers to work with our teams if they are planning a major procedure, such as a surgery or oncologic care.
While we will always work to be in compliance with federal regulations, we believe consumers deserve more information and support than just what is outlined in the rule. We will continue to listen directly to our community for ways we can improve around transparency and estimates.”
Mercy sent us this statement about being listed as noncompliant.
“Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) determines hospitals’ compliance with these regulations, not political groups. We stand by our transparency efforts, which are supported by the fact we have twice acted quickly to correct requests raised by CMS. CMS has already reviewed our website in 2024 and asked for a minor modification, which we gladly updated.”
We shared this statement with Patient Rights Advocate.org.
“We are a non-profit, nonpartisan, charitable organization that is truly focused on one simple thing — and that’s getting prices in health care for everyone,” said Fisher.
“The takeaway is it’s still really hard to find price transparency information, but I think patients would be surprised by how much is out there now that there are rules in place,” said Guarino.
“Cancer kicks your butt. It doesn’t wait,” said Russell.
The American Hospital Association says price transparency tools require large investments of staff time and resources. Plans are complex, and prices can vary dramatically based on a patient’s needs.
When you’re looking at prices and shopping around, use the service code. That way, you can compare apples to apples.
Depending on your insurance and deductible, you might be able to save a few hundred or even thousands of dollars by going elsewhere.