70% of consumers don't price shop for healthcare services: 5 things to know

A new survey from Dallas-based HealthMine polled 750 consumers enrolled in wellness programs about their habits regarding price shopping for medical services or pharmaceutical drugs.

Here are five things to know about the survey results:

1. Of the 750 consumers in the survey, 70 percent reported not comparing prices before shopping for medical services or pharmaceutical drugs.
   
   
2. Despite growing industry and consumer awareness that medical procedure costs vary widely by location and provider, only 29 percent of health plan sponsors include a price comparison tool.
   
   
3. Of the study participants, 42 percent said having such a tool in their wellness program was "very important." Another 48 percent said a price comparison tool would be nice to have.
   
   
4. Out of the 70 percent who don't price shop, 41 percent said, "Cost is covered by my health plan, so it doesn't matter" as the reason why they did not.
   
   
5. Of those who do price shop, 45 percent do so by calling physicians in their health plan, while 35 percent rely on a price comparison tool.

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