Continuing where I left off in Tip 540, ‘Waldo’ is hospital price transparency.

 

If you’re on Medicare, do you know there is a “Procedure Price Lookup” tool? It’s HERE.  

 

Give it a try. Enter, for example, colonoscopy; there are several variations but use CPT Code 45378. Note what is first displayed is the ‘net’ after Medicare pays. Make sure to click on the “more cost information” arrow to see the totals.

 

Heck of a difference between Ambulatory Surgical Centers and Hospital Outpatient Departments, the latter of which will almost always be recommended by your ‘captive’ Health System Primary Care Physician. (But not always; try “insertion of a pacemaker”, CPT Code 33208.)

 

Indulge me further and take a look at the same Colonoscopy Procedure Code at FairHealth Consumer.org

 

Both of these resources illustrate national averages, which are consistently lower than what we see in Southeastern Wisconsin.

 

So are they new, unique or solely attributable to the CAA?

 

I’ll bet your insurer has had a member cost look-up tool for years. Kudos to New Hampshire; THIS site has been up since 2007!

 

‘Waldo’ it turns out ain’t so young or hard to find.

 

More in Part III.

 

[“Slava Ukraini!”]