by Leslie Small
Two newly published
studies help shed light on which strategies insurers and employers should
consider if they want to encourage consumers to seek out the lowest price
providers.
One study, published in
the March edition of Health
Affairs, evaluates a program that Health Care Service Corp.
introduced in 2017, which offers plan enrollees a cash reward ranging from $25
to $500 when they opt for a lower-price provider of certain health care
services.
In the program's first
year, researchers found a 2.1% reduction in prices paid for services targeted
by the rewards program — offering savings that totaled $2.3 million. It's worth
noting, though, that "the impact on prices varied substantially by
service, with the largest reduction in prices for imaging services such as MRIs
and ultrasounds (though not for CT scans) and little impact on surgical
procedures," the study points out.
Meanwhile, a different Health Affairs study
examined what researchers deemed a not-so-effective strategy to get consumers
to price shop: steering them toward high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) that
give them more "skin in the game."
"Our results
indicate that most Americans in high-deductible health plans have not engaged
in the five consumer behaviors we examined," the study says. Those include
saving for future health care services, discussing costs with a provider,
comparing prices, comparing quality and trying to negotiate a price.
To change this, the study
authors suggest that health plans could develop programs to help HDHP enrollees
learn to communicate effectively with providers about costs of services and
negotiate prices.
From Health Plan Weekly
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