Entries by Sarah Idelson

How To Tell If The Price Is Right: Fostering Transparency in Healthcare Prices for Massachusetts Consumers

Notwithstanding a Massachusetts law requiring the clear, prompt disclosure of price estimates to patients upon request, recent studies by Pioneer of a sample of hospitals, specialist physicians and dentists throughout the state showed that it is still not easy to obtain this information, often requiring some persistence and longer than the two days allowed by law (“Survey: Price Information Difficult to Obtain by Massachusetts Hospitals,” June 24, 2015; “State Healthcare Price Transparency Law Still Not a Reality,” August 12, 2015). The 2012 Massachusetts law requires healthcare providers to give consumers procedure prices within two business days of request (Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012, “An Act Improving the Quality of Health Care and Reducing Costs Through Increased Transparency, Efficiency […]