More than 48 million individuals with Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance policies will soon have the opportunity to learn the cost of 35 medical procedures performed at more than 2,800 local hospitals, freestanding imaging centers, and outpatient facilities located in 19 states.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida in Orlando, Health Care Service Corporation in Chicago, and WellPoint in Indianapolis announced they will collaborate to offer their health plan members use of WellPoint's online cost comparison tool, Care Comparison.
The 35 procedures are elective, discretionary, nonemergency procedures where comparisons and price are most meaningful, according to a company spokesperson. The objective for providing cost comparison information is to empower patients to spend their healthcare dollars more wisely, according to Dr. Paul Handel, chief medical officer of Health Care Service Corporation.
Diagnostic imaging procedures include mammograms; breast biopsies; CT scans of the head, abdomen, and pelvis; MRI exams of the brain, upper arm, lower leg, and spine; and virtual colonoscopy.
The estimated cost ranges provided through Care Comparison are based on combining related services typically performed at each facility, not just the procedure itself. The cost ranges are facility-specific, so that users can compare the differences in cost between area facilities.
The Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association has selected Care Comparison for all of its plans. It will use the treatment categories and cost methodology as the core component of an online cost estimation tool for consumers.
The 19 states for the collaborative launch are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
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