75% of Consumers Do Not Price Shop for Medical Services, According to HealthMine Survey

DALLAS, Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Three quarters (75%) of consumers do not price shop for medical services, according to a HealthMine survey of 561 consumers. This is despite the fact that Americans are digging deeper than ever into their own pockets to pay for high-deductible healthcare plans, growing co-payments and other out-of-pockets costs. Even though reports show enormous disparity in healthcare provider prices, consumers are missing basic cost information about medical services as they head into 2016 re-enrollment.

This knowledge gap can be costly, leading to avoidance of needed services, and assumption of unnecessary health risk. In fact, one out of five insured Americans have avoided visiting a doctor for a general health concern within the past 12 months because of cost concerns, according to a 2015 poll of 2,000 people. Wellness programs, which aim to help insured consumers manage their health and lower their costs, are doing little to help--only 19% of enrollees say their wellness program has a price comparison tool for medical services, according to an April 2015 HealthMine survey of 750 consumers.

Wellness programs can empower smarter healthcare consumers by helping people understand both their health status and their needs for prevention and management.  Additionally, wellness platforms can help consumers get more value from their health plan via price comparison tools.   

Bryce Williams, CEO and President of HealthMine said, "With the increase in high deductible plans, consumers are shouldering more health care costs – but they are flying blind." He continued: "Plan sponsors must inform, empower and protect consumers with current healthcare cost information.  Powerful, scalable wellness platforms, like HealthMine, can host price comparison tools so consumers have instant access to current costs."

About the Survey
The HealthMine surveys queried consumers with wellness plans and were fielded by Survey Sampling International (SSI) in March/April 2015 and tabulated in May/June. Data were collected via an opt-in panel. The margin of error is 4%. Survey Sampling International (SSI) has been the Worldwide Leader in Survey Sampling and Data Collection Solutions, across every mode, for 37 Years.

About HealthMine
HealthMine, a leading consumer health engagement company, has developed the wellness industry's first and only Personal Clinical Engagement technology platform. HealthMine empowers individuals to make meaning of their health information by automatically collecting clinical data, identifying risk for chronic disease, and setting health goals. Making it easy for consumers to manage their own health, HealthMine provides a personalized health portal available on any device, and delivers tailored recommendations, resources and incentives.  HealthMine has more than one million users, and has saved employers and payers more than $100 million in healthcare costs. The company, founded in 2008, is based in Dallas, Texas with offices in San Francisco, New York and Minneapolis.

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SOURCE HealthMine

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