How to Research Health Care

It’s long been hard for health-care consumers to learn how much doctor visits or hospital stays will cost them. That’s now beginning to change, as a growing array of Web sites try to lift the veil on pricing..

The online resources come from insurers, government agencies, Internet companies and medical-care providers. The sites aren’t perfect: Unlike online retailers that sell products such as televisions.

The health sites can’t typically give exact prices for medical procedures and services. Still, consumers can get a rough idea of typical costs in their area.

That can help them choose doctors and hospitals, budget for medical costs and sort out disputed bills.

The mystery surrounding health-care pricing stems partly from the fact that hospitals and other providers generally don’t publicize how much they’re paid for services, which varies depending on who’s footing the bill. Insurers, which often contract to receive lower prices for their customers, also have traditionally not revealed these negotiated amounts.

 But soaring health-care costs have made consumers more conscious of price. Even consumers with health insurance increasingly find that they have a stake in the cost of their care because they’re paying a far bigger share out of their own pockets. For instance.

 More than half of workers pay a percentage of the price of outpatient surgery and hospital admissions, rather than just flat copayments.

 If you are insured, a good place to start your research is your health plan. The big national insurers, including WellPoint, UnitedHealth Group Inc., Humana Inc., Aetna Inc. and Cigna Corp., offer pricing tools to their customers, which the companies are continuing to enhance.

 Still  insurance company data don’t include all health-care providers or procedures, and they typically only give price ranges. Also, of course, you won’t be able to directly access the information if you aren’t a client.

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