Accolades Recognize Preeminence of FAIR Health Consumer Website
Widespread Recognition
The past year has been one of honors for the consumer site, which
This year's crop of awards join the honors previously received by
Beyond awards,
Behind the Recognition
A number of factors contribute to the effectiveness of
- It has the only healthcare cost estimator tool that is provided by an independent, unaffiliated nonprofit organization.
- The quantity and quality of the data that power the tool are unparalleled: a continually updated database of over 21 billion claims for privately billed medical and dental procedures from over 60 contributors—the nation's largest private healthcare claims data repository.
- The cost estimator tool is accompanied by plain-language educational resources to help guide the consumer through the mysteries of health insurance—including articles, videos and glossaries.
FAIR Health is constantly innovating. This year, it added facility charges to the FH Consumer Cost Lookup tool, allowing consumers to estimate costs for services provided in hospital outpatient facilities and ambulatory surgery centers. With funding from theNew York State Health Foundation ,FAIR Health plans to launch a new site forNew York State in 2017 with enhanced functionality, including charges and quality details for specific providers, allowed amounts by region and information on episodes of care.FAIR Health's consumer site is available in both English and Spanish, as is its mobile app.
Five Tips for Healthcare Consumers
As part of its educational mission,
- Make sure you know whether your provider is in network or out of network (Remember: Out-of-network doctors such as radiologists and anesthesiologists may be involved in your care even if your hospital is in network. Make sure to ask well in advance of your procedure whether all doctors caring for you are in network).
- If you are going out of network voluntarily, understand what formula is used to determine your out-of-pocket responsibility. For example, it may be
Medicare -based or based on "usual, customary and reasonable" (UCR) charges. (Estimates for both systems can be found and compared on the FH Consumer Cost Lookup.) - If you receive a "surprise" out-of-network bill for emergency care or otherwise, determine whether your state laws provide consumers protection for such bills and limit your required payment to the in-network amount.
- Understand that you can enter into a discussion with your providers to try to negotiate your share of the costs by comparing your providers' fees with the typical local charges for specific procedures that are offered by FH Consumer Cost Lookup.
- Familiarize yourself with the key terms and principles of health insurance so that you can be a better advocate for yourself as you navigate the healthcare system. See the
FH Health Insurance 101 curriculum on theFAIR Health consumer site.
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