Online prescription: prescription drug costs

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

prescription drug costs

Aetna, CIGNA Telling Their Members More About Doctors Hartford Courant - United States
... and some other states will be able to find information online about doctors ... consumers to pay a percentage of the doctor's charges or prescription drug costs. ...


Aetna's members in Connecticut and some other states will be able to find information online about doctors' prices and quality, starting this summer, as the company expands a program it piloted in Cincinnati.
Aetna and other health insurers, including CIGNA, are moving to get more data to consumers as newer health plans put more decision-making responsibility - and sometimes more of the costs - in their hands.
Effective Aug. 18, Hartford-based Aetna will provide the prices that primary care and specialist physicians in Connecticut have agreed to charge for Aetna members' care. Prices will be given for as many as 30 of the most widely used services by specialty.
Aetna will also give some basic information about care by physicians to help members compare them.
Aetna, which has about 293,000 Connecticut members, said it will have price information here on 8,700 physicians, and clinical quality and efficiency information on 2,400 doctors in the state.
Knowing prices is important because many health plans require consumers to pay a percentage of the doctor's charges or prescription drug costs. The data are especially key for "consumer-directed" plans, which often combine an employer-funded account for the employee with a high-deductible insurance plan.
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