Promoting Transparency And Clear Choices In Health Care

A funny thing is happening at the intersection of culture and health, and it’s spilling over into politics and policy — a vigorous demand for transparency in health care. Various forces are driving this demand. Even amid the current “slowdown” in national health expenditures—spending and premiums experienced record low growth in 2013—household costs have continued to grow two to three times faster than real incomes. Looking forward, health spending as a share of GDP will grow more rapidly over the next ten years than it did in either of the preceding two decades. Growing Costs For Consumers And Businesses Last year, says the consulting firm Milliman, combined insurance and out-of-pocket spending in an average employer health plan for the typical family of four totaled $23,215 — up from “just” $9,435 in 2002. For those newly insured or with new coverage on the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges, a typical Silver plan deductible is running about $3,000. That means that families still need tools that will help them shop for high-quality, affordable health care services. So even as policy makers crow that health costs are growing at their slowest rate in years, consumers and businesses are saying that affordability of health coverage is the number-one challenge they face. Health Plan Strategies Encouraging Consumer Choice Health plans have responded with insurance designs that incentivize consumers to use h...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Health IT Organization and Delivery Population Health big data HIPAA performance measures transparency Source Type: blogs