PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM PRICE BLINDNESS
There’s one medical condition
that hurts everyone: Price
Blindness. When people can’t
see what an x-ray, test or surgery
truly costs before they get
it, they blindly pay…whatever.
But, when some places charge
five times more for the same
procedure, people risk wasting
hundreds—even thousands of
dollars—if they go to the wrong
place.
For example, within a 50-
mile radius of Cookeville, Tennessee
a simple ankle MRI (no
contrast) can cost as much as
$2,466 at one facility, but as
little as $440 at another. Since
more and more people have
high deductible health insurance
plans, that $2,000 difference
comes from their own
pocket.
Because of Price Blindness,
about half of Nashville area
residents overpay for common
medical procedures. And, those
who overpay spend more than
twice as much as those who find
a Fair Price.
In Middle Tennessee
alone, consumers waste millions
of dollars on overpriced
care. In a single year, Nashville
residents overpay $36
million on CT scans, $22
million on MRI’s and $12
million on colonoscopies.
Screenshot from HealthCareBlueBook.com
36 Healthy Living | Fall Issue | 2017