Medical Bills Often Come with Sticker Shock but Insurance Could be Reinvented to Provide Costs Upfront

The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll be billed.
The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll be billed.
chormail/Envato
Share
The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll be billed.
The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll be billed.
chormail/Envato
Medical Bills Often Come with Sticker Shock but Insurance Could be Reinvented to Provide Costs Upfront
Copy

You have scheduled an appointment with a health care provider, but no matter how hard you try, no one seems to be able to reliably tell you how much that visit will cost you. Will you have to pay US$20, $1,000 – or even more?

Patients are increasingly on the hook for health care costs through deductibles, co-pays and other fees. As a result, patients are demanding credible cost information before appointments to choose where they seek care and control their budget.

Yet, in spite of recent legislation and regulations, upfront information on patient out-of-pocket costs is still difficult to obtain from both health care providers and insurers.

Read the full article on The Conversation.

Citing economic gains and ongoing investment projects, McKee defends staying the course on taxes and touts Rhode Island’s preparedness for a potential national recession
Senate panel hears how data breach inspired state to reconsider its reliance on tech contractors with a plan that ‘pays for itself’
Facing a looming deficit, lawmakers reject McKee’s $82K raise proposal for 11 department heads, leaving final decision to Senate ahead of May 18 deadline
The lawsuit challenges the Trump administration for requiring states to cooperate with the enforcement of federal immigration law in order to receive funding for public safety and infrastructure projects
The state’s public defender agency said an alleged sexual relationship between a judge and prosecutor, first described in a series of anonymous letters, could taint more than 3,700 criminal cases if proven true