FAIR Health Presents to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
August 19, 2021
On July 27, FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd addressed a working group of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in a presentation entitled “FAIR Health Efforts to Advance Price Transparency.” Ms. Gelburd discussed FAIR Health’s healthcare price transparency initiatives and presented data and resources from FAIR Health’s free consumer website, fairhealthconsumer.org.
Ms. Gelburd presented to the NAIC’s Health Innovations Working Group, which gathers and shares information and best practices to support health innovation at the state and national levels. Chaired by Oregon Insurance Commissioner Andrew Stolfi, the Health Innovations Working Group comprises insurance regulators from 23 states across the country.
Advancing Cost Transparency
Ms. Gelburd discussed the key elements of successful healthcare price transparency and shared information based on FAIR Health’s Medical Cost Lookup Tool, which is available on the FAIR Health Consumer website. Giving a tour of FAIR Health Consumer, she discussed ways that consumers can search for medical cost information, such as by keyword, procedure code or medical category. Ms. Gelburd also discussed the Medical Cost Lookup Tool results page, which offers cost information for both in-network and out-of-network care. In addition, she noted that FAIR Health Consumer also features a Dental Cost Lookup Tool.
Presenting data from the website’s FH® Total Treatment Cost estimator, Ms. Gelburd discussed how that tool details the full range of costs for certain acute events, procedures and chronic conditions.
Shared Decision Making
Ms. Gelburd also presented on shared decision making—where the patient and provider discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different medical choices for various preference-sensitive conditions—and FAIR Health’s efforts to integrate its data on costs into decision aids used in shared decision making. For example, Ms. Gelburd shared data for in-network and out-of-network costs for staying on dialysis.
Research and Other Resources
Ms. Gelburd provided an overview of other ways FAIR Health adds to healthcare transparency and the integrity of health insurance information. Examples include FAIR Health white papers, briefs and infographics available on fairhealth.org.
Ms. Gelburd also discussed other resources, such as FH® Consumer Classroom, an app that provides, in concise, convenient form, the same educational materials as on FAIR Health Consumer, as well as links to the Medical and Dental Cost Lookup Tools and shared decision-making tools.