{"id":1642,"date":"2019-05-17T17:14:23","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T00:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ascentblog.org\/?p=1642"},"modified":"2019-05-17T17:14:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-18T00:14:25","slug":"health-care-prices-dont-reflect-quality-of-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ascentblog.org\/health-care-prices-dont-reflect-quality-of-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Care Prices Don\u2019t Reflect Quality of Care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Health<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\nis an increasing push for price transparency in health care these days. This is\ngood for the patient, who can look closely at costs before deciding to undergo\na procedure \u2013 particularly one that is elective. But what happens when prices\ndiffer dramatically? We often assume that high prices translate to better\nquality, but that is simply not true in the health care arena. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding Health Care Pricing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Health\ncare pricing is confusing enough; transparency, for all its good, often\nillustrates the vast divide not only across geographic regions and provider\ntypes, but sometimes even within the same zip code. It\u2019s important for\nconsumers to understand that cost differences are not an accurate reflection of\nthe overall quality of care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nApril edition of Healthy Marketplace Index<\/a>, a\npublication funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that explores\nvariations in health care spending across the United States, illustrates the divide\nin pricing for the same services across different metro regions. The report\nanalyzed negotiated rates between hospitals and health insurance companies for\nsix of the most common services and found the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n