Study: Consumers have limited ability to shop for better healthcare prices

New analysis released this week found that consumers’ ability to shop for better healthcare prices has a limited impact on costs (Source: “Consumer Choices Have Limited Impact On U.S. Health Care Spending: Study,” Kaiser Health News, March 4, 2016).

The analysis by the Health Care Cost Institute, a price transparency initiative jointly created by insurers Aetna, Assurant Health, Humana and UnitedHealthcare, focused on what consumers paid out of pocket, where comparison shopping can result in lower costs. The study found that less than 7 percent of total out-of-pocket healthcare spending in 2011 was paid by consumers for “shoppable” services.

“What surprised us was the percent of total spending that [consumers] could affect was really pretty modest,” said Amanda Frost, a co-author of the study and a senior researcher at HCCI. “Because these gains are pretty modest, designing systems around expecting consumers to become uber shoppers might not be the best way.”

The analysis examined 2011 claims data from three large private insurers, representing roughly a quarter of people younger than age 65 who have employer-sponsored coverage.