Consumers & PatientsFuture of Health CareValue-Based Health Care
November 13, 2019

How to Manage Your Health Care Costs – Beyond Just Coverage Costs and Gaps

Consumers are rapidly becoming aware that costs for health care coverage extend well beyond premiums, copays, and deductibles—costs such as additional charges for out-of-network physicians and facilities. There is also a growing understanding that different providers charge varying costs for services—and that other hidden variables can increase the final bill for treatment. But consumer health care costs are not only a price issue. The cost of health care is the final sum of many decisions that are—at least partly—controllable by consumers or providers. Unfortunately, most consumers don't know all the factors that make up health care costs, and why those…
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingNarrow NetworksPatient Empowerment
July 12, 2017

Narrow Networks and Rationed Health Care, Version 2017

For decades, our nation’s health care system has been highly valued for its bounty. Access to the most advanced technology, surgery and expertise has been a point of pride. The concept of rationing health care, by contrast, has been taboo. We accused the British of rationing in their universal health system when people had to wait for care or couldn’t get specialty services. We proudly counted the number of Canadians crossing the border to get cardiac surgery in this country. Oregon was accused of rationing when it released a list of prioritized health services under its health system, and the…
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