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By Ginger Vieira
Americans with diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and other chronic conditions are on the front lines of the U.S. healthcare system. We work hard to stay healthy with careful diets, exercise, medications, and regular checkups. What we can’t control is the price of care we can’t see coming. New bipartisan federal healthcare price transparency legislation can empower us to protect our finances as well as our health.
Massive medical bills threaten every American, but those of us with chronic diseases are especially exposed. Preventive care is essential for us. Yet hidden costs make many of us afraid to get the care we need. Over one-third of Americans avoid care for fear of financial ruin, and that figure is likely higher for those with chronic conditions.
As a person living with Type-1 diabetes and multiple autoimmune disorders, I’ve learned about the high cost of hidden prices the hard way. Last spring, I needed an MRI to find the cause of severe hip pain. My doctor referred me to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where I wasn’t able to get any price information. The scan revealed two soft-tissue tears. Weeks later, a $4,000 bill arrived in my mailbox.
As a single mom with a mortgage, a car payment, and the same high grocery bills as everyone else, I couldn’t afford this bill. I later discovered a nearby imaging clinic that performs the same MRI for about $400 — one-tenth the cost.
It wasn’t my first shock. When I needed surgery for endometriosis last year, I again received no price information and was later billed $5,000. After a long hunt for answers, I learned I could have had the same procedure at a competing provider for roughly half the cost, but it was too late.
Fortunately, I stumbled across a nonprofit called Dollar For, which helped me apply for and receive financial assistance to cover these bills because of my income. But most patients never hear about such programs. It shouldn’t take luck or detective work to avoid medical debt.
Transparent pricing would empower patients to avoid such overcharging, shop for affordable care, and stay out of medical debt. Widely available prices would create competition and put downward pressure on costs, just as in every other sector of our economy. Price transparency would allow me to track my healthcare costs with the same precision as my blood sugar.
It would also reduce overtreatment, which accounts for up to 30% of healthcare costs.
Despite living with Type-1 diabetes for 25 years, my doctor recently ordered a test to see if I produce insulin — a test I knew would be negative. I reluctantly agreed and weeks later received a bill for hundreds of dollars. Had I known the cost upfront, I would have refused it on the spot.
The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, introduced by U.S. Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO), would make price transparency a reality. It would finally require hospitals, providers, and health insurers to publish their real prices — both negotiated rates and cash prices (not estimates) — so we can compare and save.
Similar legislation was sponsored last Congress by Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Given his longtime leadership on this issue, his support for this year’s bill could give it the momentum it needs to pass.
While Washington obsesses over partisan battles, everyday Americans just want Congress to come together and pursue commonsense solutions to fix the country’s biggest problems. Healthcare price transparency is at the top of this list.
Price transparency would finally put patients first, helping those of us with chronic diseases most of all. By passing the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, Congress can give us the power to control our health finances with the same discipline and scrutiny we already use to manage our health conditions. Ginger Vieira is an author, speaker, and diabetes content specialist. She lives in Burlington, Vermont.
