New case study shows patients who shop around could save thousands in hospital bills

Price transparency rules offer benefits, challenges

DALLAS – Both Texas law and federal rules require hospitals to post their prices in a “consumer-friendly” format so patients can obtain upfront cost information about hospital care. U.S.PIRG Education Fund’s newest case study, Acute Confusion: Why it’s so hard for patients to compare hospital prices, builds on a similar study of Cleveland-area hospitals to show what patients encounter when they use their new rights to find hospital price information. Researchers investigated how patients in the Dallas metro area could find these prices and comparison-shop to save money. The study found a self-pay patient could save more than $150,000 and an insured patient could save more than $2,800 on total knee replacement surgery. 

“When hospitals provide easy-to-find prices, patients can make financially informed decisions about planned surgeries and treatments,” said Patricia Kelmar, TexPIRG Education Fund’s senior director of health care campaigns.  “But unfortunately, some hospitals are still failing to provide the information patients need to comparison-shop. It’s not supposed to be as hard as brain surgery to find a price online.” 

Only 13 of the 19 hospitals that U.S. PIRG Education Fund tested provided an online insured price for the surgery they searched for. But four of those 13 hospitals listed the insured price for the patient as $0, a price that researchers determined was ‘unreliable.’ The report showed better online availability for cash prices (at 17 of 19 hospitals). The report also noted that four hospitals required patients to call the hospital for an estimate, rather than posting a price online as required by both the Texas law and the federal rules. 

TexPIRG Education Fund has been working to improve patient access to prices by doing spot checks on hospital prices such as this report, as well as developing a consumer guide to demonstrate how people can use their new power to comparison shop.

“Most people take price into account when shopping for expensive things, from appliances to college educations. Now, people can look for online prices for more than 300 procedures,” said Kelmar. “But we need better enforcement of transparency rules so people can compare all of the hospitals offering their needed treatment in their community.”

TexPIRG Education Fund plans to share the report with state regulators to seek audits of the hospitals called out in the report.