Focus groups across the country found that patients want price transparency in healthcare

Patients had strong distrust and fear of the healthcare system.

Woman in Pittsburgh, PA: My parents were in the hospital. Some doctors were coming in that were out-of-network in my parents' rooms, and we didn't know until we got home...

Woman in Charlotte, NC: I have insurance…I had one child this year who was hospitalized for five months…the amount of out-of-pocket costs that I have I staggering and overwhelming even with a company-based plan.

Woman in Charlotte, NC: Neck was broken. Had to have surgery the day before Christmas that year…I [then] had a stroke and I found out I had two aneurysms. All of this is happening with no healthcare insurance…I'm currently $1.5 million in debt so I could be alive…I'll never get out of this.

Transparency was seen as a catalyst to restoring honesty and accountability to healthcare in America.

Independent: It would maybe make insurance companies be more honest if we're watching them… You see the costs everything else you’re buying. So why can't we see those costs? People will hold them accountable. I want to see it.

Participants believed price transparency would lower prices.

Suburban Woman: We look for better deals for a toaster, which is non-essential, and we use our coupons and discounts and everything. If [healthcare] was that transparent, it would be like going to eBay…

People felt they had a right to know prices before a service or procedure, even if they weren’t sure how they would act upon that information.

Independent: We pay for the insurance. We pay into it or our companies do…So why wouldn't we — why would we only know part of it?

Patients believed that they should have quick and easy access to their complete electronic health information, the availability, quality, and performance of doctors, and greater insight into the healthcare system.

Suburban Woman: “It’s not transparent at all. The doctor’s not telling you half of this stuff we need to know. They type it in that little chart and you never know what they type into that little chart. I don’t see that little chart and they say you can go online but you don't get the secret notes that they're putting in there. Put that little chart up on a wall so I can see what you’re typing into it. Don’t tell me you don't have the technology today to do that."  

PATIENT STORIES AND VOTER TESTIMONY

Patients and their families feel overwhelmed and fearful about healthcare:

Maurice, Charlotte, NC
“Everyone in my family…We all felt that we’ve been taken advantage of by the healthcare system.”

Patients believe they have a right to know the price of their care in advance:

Sharon, Charlotte, NC
"I was actually in the [hospital] less than 24 hours. It was a shocking thing to see that my out-of-pocket was almost $4,000… When we spend our money, we know what things cost ahead of time. I don't understand why healthcare is the exception to that rule."

Voters support the Trump Administration's policies on price transparency:

Kara, Harrisburg, PA
“By shopping around beforehand, we knew the claim was going to be $7,800, which is a 60% price difference. And it was at zero cost to me.”

“I want to thank the President for making healthcare more transparent…”

Patients struggle to access their electronic health information:

 “I should be the one who accesses [my information] and gives others permission. Instead, other people have the information and they let me know how they’re going to use it. It’s kind of backwards.”