Unfortunately, medical care doesn't come in packages with clear price tags. Often, finding out exactly how much you'll pay to get the care you need requires perseverance and -- no pun intended -- patience.
The California HealthCare Foundation recently had a small army of "mystery shoppers" -- people posing as uninsured patients -- call or visit hospitals in the state asking for specific medical procedures. The mystery shoppers found that pricing information often resides with off-site billing personnel whom few hospital staffers could identify.
In more than 600 calls and visits, fewer than one-third of the mystery shoppers could get a firm price or estimate with a single inquiry. In an extreme example, one mystery shopper was routed to 17 different people before getting any pricing information.
The problem is not limited to California, nor is it something only the uninsured face. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and USA Today found that 52 percent of people polled nationwide said their doctors never or rarely discuss the costs associated with the procedures they recommend.
What's more, employee benefit plans are raising deductibles and co-pays, forcing individuals to bear more of the burden of medical care. As this trend deepens, individuals will need to be able to compare prices before committing to medical procedures.
"People need to be better shoppers for health care because more of their health care costs will be paid directly from their pockets or will come from health savings accounts," says Maribeth Shannon of the California HealthCare Foundation.
Among other things, Shannon recommends that people get plenty of information from doctors before visiting hospitals. "It's important to have as much information as possible to help the hospitals identify what you need," said Shannon. "This way they can price procedures accurately." A key piece of information is the diagnostic code that doctors assign to ailments.
Shannon also recommends phoning the hospital before visiting. Mystery shoppers who called were able to get pricing information faster than those who visited.
Finally, Shannon recommends asking for discounts and payment plans to reduce costs and space out bills. "If you don't ask for a discount," she says, "it almost certainly won't be offered."
