A poll released Monday has found that 70 percent of Massachusetts workers with employer health care want to know how much medical procedures will cost them before having a procedure done, but don't know how to find that price information.
The survey, commissioned by the Pioneer Institute and conducted by pollster David Paleologos, comes as Beacon Hill leaders are considering a massive proposal from Gov. Charlie Baker that would reshape much of the health care industry by focusing health spending by providers on primary care and behavioral health.
"It is clear that people want to know ahead of time. It's not an irrational thing in an open economy to want to know the price of something before you buy," Pioneer Institute Senior Health Care Fellow Barbara Anthony said at a forum on health care price transparency held at the State House Monday.
The big cost-saving push on Beacon Hill five years ago was for new websites from insurers and providers that would let consumers see price estimates for medical procedures. The poll's findings suggest the public never embraced the habit of comparing prices between hospitals before selecting a provider.
Anthony said she sees price transparency tools, if properly utilized by consumers, as an untapped way everyday health care customers can shop around and save on some of the most expensive procedures.
Websites letting consumers compare prices hospital-to-hospital have been around for years, but consumers just aren't aware of the tools, Anthony said.
"What we were saying is people want the information, they have any information, but ... they don't know how to get it. Maybe [it's] too complex, or they just don't know," Anthony said.
Democratic lawmakers may hear Baker's health care bill this month before proposing their own plan to combat health costs next year.
