Blue Cross online tool allows comparison shopping for medical procedures
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina has expanded an online tool that allows people to compare the costs charged by health care providers for hundreds of medical procedures.
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"We’re working to take the mystery out of health care by providing cost information about more than 1,200 procedures,” Blue Cross President and Chief Executive Brad Wilson said in a statement. “This information will help consumers get more bang for their health care buck.”
The amount someone might pay for a knee replacement in the Triangle, for example, can vary by nearly $15,000, depending on which surgeon performs the operation and which hospital is used, officials said.
“Many consumers believe that the highest-cost facility is the highest-quality facility, but that’s often not the case,” Dr. Susan Weaver, Blue Cross' chief medical officer, said in a statement. “We know that our customers want the highest-quality health care, but like any purchase they make, they don’t want to pay more than they have to. Our tool allows them to make informed decisions about health care just as they would any other major purchase.”
The lack of transparency in health care prices drives up the cost of care by more than $100 billion each year in the U.S., according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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