Colorado Hospital Price Finder tool helps with price transparency, save money on health care says Gov. Jared Polis
CBS 4 News
On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis and Lt. Gov. Primavera launched a new tool to help Coloradans save money on health care. The Colorado Hospital Price Finder is from the nonprofit PatientRightsAdvocate.org which is designed to connect Colorado residents with services and help with price transparency.
According to Polis, the tool complements the state-generated price transparency initiative that he and the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing announced earlier this year.
"Saving Coloradans money on health care is a top priority and I am excited to help launch this new and free Colorado Hospital Price Finder to make healthcare pricing more competitive and save people money on healthcare. I am excited to see more of these tools online because the more transparency the better for all of us. We will continue to ensure Colorado's competitive health care market provides high-quality care to everyone at lower costs and provide more clarity on the true cost of health care,"
said Polis in a statement.
The new service is designed for everyone in Colorado to research all available prices at every hospital and shop for the care that best fits their needs. The price finder is free to use. It shows the total price that the hospital charges each payer, although the final amount depends on each person's insurance plan and coverage.
"Every Coloradan can go, when they get a medical bill to the ColoradoHospitalPriceFinder.org website and compare to make sure they were appropriately and accurately charged," said Founder and Chair of PatientRightsAdvocate Cynthia Fisher.
Additional Information from Gov. Polis' Office:
HB22-1285 - Prohibiting Collection Hospital Not Disclosing Prices, sponsored by Representatives Patrick Neville and Daneya Esgar, and Senators Dominick Moreno and John Cooke, prohibited hospitals from taking debt collection action against a patient if the hospital was not in compliance with federal reporting requirements. SB23-252 - Medical Price Transparency sponsored by Senators Kevin Van Winkle and Julie Gonzales, and Representatives Lindsay Daugherty and Anthony Hartstook, requires hospitals to make reimbursement rates publicly accessible.