Think shopping for a big-screen TV is tough? Try finding the best mammogram reader in your neighborhood or the cheapest place for a checkup.
"Consumer-driven" health plans, which typically combine a high-deductible insurance plan with a savings account, are seen by many in government and industry as a way to slow the growth of healthcare costs. With their own bucks at stake, the theory goes, wise consumers will shop for the best deals, forcing providers to keep a lid on prices and improve quality.
But supporters and critics alike say a crucial ingredient is missing: the information that consumers need to comparison-shop.
"Right now, there's no Shopzilla for an angioplasty," said Patti Smith, head of Adobe Group, a healthcare communications firm in La Crescenta that helps large companies.
High-deductible plans do make people think more carefully about costs. A study released Thursday by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute, for example, found that more than 70% of people in consumer-driven health plans said they considered costs when deciding whether to see a doctor, compared with less than 40% of people in traditional insurance plans.
But just 12% said their high-deductible health plans provided information that would allow them to compare doctor and hospital costs. Only a slightly higher percentage said their plan provided information on doctor or hospital quality.
And a June survey of 1,400 employees in various health plans by employee benefit consulting firm Towers Perrin found that more than 80% said they needed more information on pricing for their out-of-pocket health insurance costs.
Nothing prohibits consumers from doing the research on their own, of course. But asking for prices from doctors is going to remain taboo for many consumers, said Mike Fox, managing principal specializing in healthcare with Towers Perrin in Irvine.
"You can ask about prices, but even then because of the emotion involved in healthcare, people tend not to ask -- and in an emergency situation, forget about it," Fox said. "It's very difficult for people to turn to a doctor and say, 'Hey, for 50 bucks cheaper I can get this down the street.' "
Critics say it's too much to ask America's consumers to solve the problem of rising healthcare costs on their own.
"In the healthcare market, unlike the mall, not all consumers are created equal," said Jamie Court, head of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica advocacy group. "Often the consumers who need services the most have the least ability to shop."
