(Editor’s note: Map updated to show correct grades.)
A group that gave a little more than half the U.S. a failing grade last year when it came to price transparency in health care now says virtually every state is flunking.
The Catalyst for Payment Reform and the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute are giving 45 states an “F” when it comes to monitoring health provider pricing, up sharply from the 29 states that flunked the organizations’ test in March 2013.
(Here’s the grades given by the two groups on state health price transparency for 2014….)
No states received an “A,” unlike last year, when New Hampshire and Massachusetts were at the top of the class. In fact, the groups gave New Hampshire an “F” this year for letting its website that offers details on pricing become inoperative. Massachusetts received a “B,” along with Maine.
Maine was one of the few states that maintained its grade from 2013, not including the states that flunked last year as well. Colorado, Vermont and Virginia were the only states to receive a “C” grade. Vermont maintained its status, while Colorado and Virginia slipped from “B” grades a year ago.
A group that gave a little more than half the U.S. a failing grade last year when it came to price transparency in health care now says virtually every state is flunking.
The Catalyst for Payment Reform and the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute are giving 45 states an “F” when it comes to monitoring health provider pricing, up sharply from the 29 states that flunked the organizations’ test in March 2013.
(Here’s the grades given by the two groups on state health price transparency for 2014….)
No states received an “A,” unlike last year, when New Hampshire and Massachusetts were at the top of the class. In fact, the groups gave New Hampshire an “F” this year for letting its website that offers details on pricing become inoperative. Massachusetts received a “B,” along with Maine.
Maine was one of the few states that maintained its grade from 2013, not including the states that flunked last year as well. Colorado, Vermont and Virginia were the only states to receive a “C” grade. Vermont maintained its status, while Colorado and Virginia slipped from “B” grades a year ago.
“Some states have robust price transparency laws and regulations, requiring them to create a publicly available website with price information based on real paid claims information,” the report, released Tuesday, says, “but in reality, the public can’t readily access that information because the website is poorly designed, or poorly functioning.”
The groups say this year’s assessment is harsher because they’re not grading on a curve. They also say they took a deeper look at whether states were really giving consumers a deeper look at health-care pricing information.
(…. a stark contrast to last year’s grades, which were on a curve and gave far fewer “Fs”.)
Several states have “voluntary price transparency websites,” but if unregulated their presence may be only temporary and/or dependent on an organization to be maintained, the report says.
Source: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/03/25/nearly-every-state-flunks-health-price-transparency-report-says/
For more information about how to get the best health care insurance deal, please call John Caris at 707 935 6294 x103 or Email.
The groups say this year’s assessment is harsher because they’re not grading on a curve. They also say they took a deeper look at whether states were really giving consumers a deeper look at health-care pricing information.
(…. a stark contrast to last year’s grades, which were on a curve and gave far fewer “Fs”.)
Several states have “voluntary price transparency websites,” but if unregulated their presence may be only temporary and/or dependent on an organization to be maintained, the report says.
Source: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/03/25/nearly-every-state-flunks-health-price-transparency-report-says/
For more information about how to get the best health care insurance deal, please call John Caris at 707 935 6294 x103 or Email.
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