Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealth Agree to Share Data with HCCI to Give Consumers a Free, Comprehensive Source for Comparing Healthcare Prices and Quality
Scheduled to launch in early 2015, the Health Care Cost Institute’s free online tool will give consumers access to data on provider prices and quality
It’s a significant sign of the times when three of the nation’s biggest health insurance companies agree to share data on healthcare prices and utilization specifically so that consumers can access this information. This will advance price transparency. It will also put more pressure on clinical laboratories to make it easy for consumers to see the prices of medical laboratory tests in advance of services.
This new price-transparency project includes Aetna (NYSE: ATE), UnitedHealthcare (NYSE: UNH), and Humana (NYSE: HUM). The three health insurers are partnering with the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), a nonprofit organization that maintains a database on healthcare cost and utilization.
The insurers will share healthcare price data. HCCI plans to provide the general public free, online access to this information, beginning in early 2015. (more…)
