Health care prices in Massachusetts vary as much as 1000%
April 9, 2012 in health care costs, Medical Care
This article in USA Today caught my eye over the weekend,
“Costs of many preventive medical exams vary as much as 700%.”
That’s a lot, but the gap is even greater in Massachusetts.
This slide, from a deck prepared for the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, shows a 10 fold or 1000% difference for some procedures. It is not just preventive services as is the report in USA Today. But either way, that’s a huge range, especially if there’s no difference in quality, which is often the case in Massachusetts.
So is the gap between what high and low cost hospitals are paid in Massachusetts greater than anywhere else in the country? Anyone know?
Stephanie B. said on April 9, 2012
We do not think about health care in relation to price. If I want to buy a lawnmower, I can look up consumer reviews, check prices on amazon, etc…and through that research I can figure out that this *same* product is $400 at one store and $200 at another…therefore the lower price wins out. But with healthcare, if I have the same scenario with a procedure at $4k vs $2k, I think that the $4k procedure must be better because with healthcare, ‘cheap ain’t good’….we want the best!
Healthcare needs to start to be seen as more of a standard transaction – one that you can research and compare (like a lawnmower!). While there will always be *some* deviation from the norm for a special circumstance, not EVERYTHING can be a special circumstance as it appears to be right now.
I find this chart most appalling and hope to see this data for other states as well.
Thank you Martha for the post.
Martha Bebinger said on April 11, 2012
Stephanie – I agree that many parts of our health care experience have to become more standard. Posting prices will help, but the other element is the quality of the care. We want to know who offers the best colonoscopy or knee replacement, and that info doesn’t seem to exist yet. It’s kind of amazing how much we don’t know about the places we go for care.
I hope you are well!
Dennis Byron said on April 12, 2012
The 1000% difference analysis is a little misleading as it appears that the only thing that fits that definition in the Blue Cross slide is the thing that falls off the chart on the right (outpatient radiation therapy?) There is also an error one way or the other relative to pneumonia (is the lower bound incorrect or the delta?)
Other than that difference, a less than 100% difference seems reasonable given inner-city vs suburban vs. rural costs in Massachusetts. You will find this same pattern in the cost of almost anything in Massachusetts (apartment rents, per-pupil K-12 education expenditures, property taxes, etc.), not just in health care.
Martha Bebinger said on April 12, 2012
What an interesting perspective Dennis. What’s the most interesting data point for comparison and where would you get the numbers?