Consumers soon will be able to find health care cost information gathered by an independent, not-for-profit company and made available on a new Web site.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says the new company, FAIR Health, and a related research consortium will be headquartered at Syracuse University.
He says the database will allow consumers for the first time to compare prices before they choose their doctors.
Cuomo says Tuesday that health insurers are putting up $100 million to pay for its creation.
“This is an important step in making health care information, specifically payment information, more transparent to patients in Connecticut and across the country,” said Matthew Katz executive vice president of the Connecticut State Medical Society. “The creation of the FAIR Health database will help hold health insurers accountable for the charges they pass along to patients who use out-of-network physicians. Ultimately, it has the potential to save patients thousands, and even millions of dollars in unreimbursed health care expenses.”
Cuomo secured agreements with more than a dozen health insurers to end their use of the Ingenix Inc. database to set their out-of-network payments to physicians, hospitals and other health providers. (AP)
