Recent figures released by the US Census Bureau indicate that the number of people without health insurance has jumped to 47 million from 2005 to 2006.
According to another census conducted by AHIP, 4.5 million people enrolled in a health savings account, up by 1.3 million from the previous year.
Are we going to see a long and continuous trend of individuals unable to afford coverage or are we going to see a breakout year in High Deductible Health Plans with an option for an HSA in 2008-2009?
I attached both links for the census reports.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf
http://www.ahipresearch.org/PDFs/FINAL%20AHIP_HSAReport.pdf
The need for healthcare pricing transparency is the hottest conversation right now in the world of consumer directed healthcare. (www.galen.org) There are initiatives forming at the state, local, regional and government levels.
In a March 14 speech, Mike Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced his intention to create transparency in quality and price. The federal government makes up 46% of the entire payer market, according to HHS but has not been a participant in the efforts to control cost. (www.managedhealthcareerexecutive.com).
A Pennsylvania lawmaker proposed a price transparency bill for pharmacies and Hospitals (www.medicalnewstoday.com). The intent was to create a way for consumers to view the top 150 most popular prescription drugs. The pharmacies would update their drug list monthly and could change prices at any time as long as their in-store price list are updated at least once a week. The bill also calls for the creation of a hospital payment registry. The registry would be updated annually and include payments received by hospital for the 150 most common admission diagnoses and most often dispensed drugs.
These conversations are not surprising. Studies indicate the patients are 58 percent more likely to switch to a more cost-effective prescription drug or a lower-cost pharmacy channel when they can comparison shop for drugs. The analysis conducted by Medco Health Solutions, Inc, found that patients are willing to price shop on prescriptions drugs when presented with clear information on their clinical alternatives, channel options and overall savings. (www.medcohealthsolutions.com)
The notions of consumer-driven healthcare and price transparency are going to fundamentally change how Hospital and Pharmaceutical marketing takes place. Price transparency and consumer-driven healthcare will force marketers to engage with consumers healthcare as never before. With the media reporting issues surrounding hospital and drug charges nearly every day, price is an increasing important portion of the marketing mix.
The next phase in price transparency must come directly for physicians who need to voluntarily post their prices so consumers can know directly and up front the full cost of a visit or procedure. One of the forces driving this will be consumer directed healthcare where consumers will want to get the best cost and quality as they spend their deductible dollars.
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