CMS Posts Price Data for 30 Common Procedures Online

The average prices that Medicare pays for 30 common elective procedures at hospitals are now listed on the program's Web site, CMS announced last week. The prices, which are based on Medicare payment rates for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2005, are listed as average ranges and sorted by county. The Web site also includes information on the number of each of the 30 procedures specific hospitals performed in 2005. It does not contain hospital-specific cost information. CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said, "There is a large variation in how much you pay for services if you go to different doctors or hospitals or providers. There's also significant variation in the quality of care you can get, so this is important information for anyone to pay attention to." Secretary Mike Leavitt said that "by taking steps to post prices and quality data," the federal government "hope[s] to encourage more insurance companies, hospitals, clinics and doctors to do the same." He added, "Our ultimate vision is that patients will be able to compare hospitals and physicians on cost, quality and consumer satisfaction." Leavitt also said the data could be useful to the uninsured in negotiating prices with hospitals. The information on the number of procedures performed at a specific hospital could be significant because studies show that "the more experience a facility has with a procedure, the better the outcome for the patient," according to reports. The new Medicare data are available online.