Castlight Health, financed by the Cleveland Clinic and other investors, is one of a number of companies that have started publishing health care prices charged by doctors and hospitals. Others include Aetna life insurance company and the state of New Hampshire.<\/p>\n
Employers who have shifted workers toward high-deductible insurance policies that require them to pay larger out-of-pocket costs are one spur for better health care cost information. Patients with more information about prices often spend less. The state of Indiana found that in 2009, patients with high-deducible plans spent 25 percent less than patients with a more traditional plan, the Times reported.<\/p>\n
In another example of the variability of health care prices, Castlight found that colonoscopy prices in the San Francisco area ranged from $500 to $3,000.<\/p>\n
While there are many medical emergencies for which patients have no time for comparison shopping, health care consumers should be encouraged to shop around for many routine medical procedures, examinations and tests, and to be aware of the costs of overusing emergency medical services.<\/p>\n