Public Agenda, Inc.

As health care costs continue to grow, patients are increasingly facing higher premiums, deductibles, and copayments—leading to more out-of-pocket costs for their health care. Growing consumer exposure to costs has increased emphasis on price transparency and access to accurate consumer information.

Although it is apparent patients want to know more about health care pricing, little data are available to show how consumers are seeking and using available price information—and whether this information leads to value-oriented purchasing decisions. A nationally representative survey by Public Agenda in 2014, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), examined this issue by interviewing adults across the country about their practices with regard to seeking and using health care price information. RWJF and Public Agenda will repeat the national survey in 2016 to uncover further trends. In 2015, NYHealth awarded Public Agenda a grant to conduct a robust New York State companion survey in conjunction with the national project.

Under this grant, Public Agenda surveyed New Yorkers to understand the current state of consumer price information seeking and use. The New York sample was representative of the geographic and demographic distribution of the State’s population. Public Agenda produced a public report of the New York findings, which included trend analyses and a comparison of the New York results with national findings. By determining the extent to which New Yorkers are seeking and using price information, these findings can help stakeholders understand the existing landscape of accurate sources of pricing information. These State-specific results can serve as a benchmark to understand future developments in New York residents’ health care price behaviors and attitudes.

Read the reports on the surveys’ findings: “Still Searching: How People Use Health Care Price Information in the United States, New York State, Florida, Texas, and New Hampshire.“