Disclosing Health Care Prices – Trump’s Executive Order

President Trump released a new executive order to further improve the transparency of pricing within the healthcare industry. The Department of Health and Human Services announced that there will be two new rules created to help improve competitive pricing between hospitals, health insurance issuers, and health plans. The effort is aimed at helping to empower patients when they make their health insurance decisions. Las Vegas, Nevada health insurance agents are poised to adapt to the changes in health insurance pricing as a result of the executive order.

Health Insurance Transparency:

How Will This Affect Patients?

The order by President Trump is aimed at offering patients better healthcare transparency in pricing. In today’s healthcare model, consumers must contact their health insurance provider to see how much a procedure will cost them. The price is negotiated between the hospital and the insurance company with consumers receiving no say in the matter, and almost always are unable to get a clear answer on how much a procedure will cost. Today’s modern patient is unable to compare costs between two hospital systems but is instead told they need a procedure and forced to accept the rate and final bill they are issued.

Uninsured Patients and the Transparency Effort

While it makes the most financial sense to have health insurance, for a variety of reasons some Nevadans may not have a health insurance plan. The new transparency orders would affect their ability to get competitively priced healthcare. This would allow consumers to get real numbers that are generally kept in the shadowy system or kept hidden on an undisclosed ledger. The eventual hope is that greater transparency would reduce the rates of health insurance and health care overall.​

What Does Transparency in Coverage Mean?

For those who carry health insurance, the new “Transparency in Coverage” decry would mean that employer-based health insurance plans and other health insurance issuers that offer coverage would have to disclose the price and cost-sharing numbers to all patients and enrollees upfront. Patients would have exact numbers when it comes time to determine their out-of-pocket costs in terms of co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance. While this information was previously considered unavailable, it would help consumers choose health insurance plans that meet their budget and medical needs better.

Once finalized, the Transparency in Coverage rule would require all health insurance plans to offer real-time estimates for all healthcare services and items via an online tool or via paper form upon request. This tool would allow consumers to shop between hospital systems to see which provider would offer the best costs. It would also require health insurance providers to disclose negotiated rates for in-network and out-of-network providers to help create competition within the healthcare industry.

Find Your New Health Insurance Plan with Nevada Insurance Enrollment

While these changes are designed to help educate patients, navigating the prices and costs of the health insurance industry can be confusing to many. The health insurance agents at Nevada Insurance Enrollment are trained to identify healthcare costs and help individuals find health insurance plans that meet their budgets and individual health care needs. Contact us today for help identifying the most cost-effective health insurance plan for you.