Earlier this week the State Auditor released a report outlining how the Green Mountain Care Board has not met their statutory duty to give consumers information about their health care costs. The Report showed that the state has the information necessary to let consumers look up the prices of health care procedures before they go to the doctor in order to make informed decisions about their health care, but that this information has not been made available to consumers.
Easy, accessible price information would help consumers make apples-to-apples comparisons for potential healthcare costs, and VPIRG urges the Green Mountain Care Board to make this information available to the public as soon as possible.
Currently, more than a third of insured Vermonters have plans that requires them to pay significant out of pocket costs before they get any coverage and yet they have no way of knowing the cost until they receive a bill. The Green Mountain Care Board Chair Al Gobeille was quoted as saying “It’s a priority, but it’s not the priority” and getting this information to consumers could take years and not months.Tell the Green Mountain Care Board that you want health care price transparency now.
Click here to read the State Auditor’s Report.
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