With the push for more transparency in healthcare, people with private insurance in Massachusetts can now go onto their insurers' websites to see the real-time prices for healthcare services, according to a Kaiser Health News report.
Massachusetts began pushing insurers to make pricing information more public two years ago, and it is now the only state to require insurers to provide real-time prices.
Although Massachusetts has changed the way consumers in the state shop for healthcare services, the prices do not always present the exact amount a patient will be charged. For instance, the price tag the insurer provides may not include a facility fee or the cost of reading a test, which the consumer would be required to pay. In addition, most of the pricing information available is for outpatient care.
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