Price Transparency

Price transparency, the availability of provider-specific information on the price of specific health care services to a consumer, is a critical building block toward payment reform and has been a special initiative for CPR purchasers. Purchasers and consumers need transparency:

• To help purchasers contain health care costs;
• To inform consumers' health care decisions as they assume greater financial responsibility; and,
• To reduce unknown and unwarranted price variation in the system.
  

While there are burgeoning efforts by health plans and independent vendors to make price information available to health care consumers, few tools fully meet consumers' needs; many are not comprehensive or user-friendly. CPR has developed a suite of tools to bring more attention to this issue and to make it easier for purchasers to promote effective transparency. This suite includes:

CPR and HCI3's Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws

CPR Purchasers' Statement on Price and Quality Transparency in Health Care

Read CPR's Comprehensive Specifications for Evaluation of Consumer Price Transparency Tools                           

Read CPR's Action Brief on Price Transparency

Read CPR's Press Release on Price Transparency