COVID-19 Resources Added to Award-Winning FAIR Health Consumer Website

NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2020, FAIR Health added several COVID-19 resources to its free, award-winning cost transparency website fairhealthconsumer.org, rendering the consumer tool even more useful in these challenging times. The resources include typical costs for COVID-19 testing codes, an article on dealing with COVID-19 costs, and total treatment costs for three different COVID-19 scenarios. Other highlights of 2020 can be found in the FAIR Health Consumer year-end statistics for 2020, which, like last year's statistics for 2019, shed light into what types of people are using the site and why.

In 2020, FAIR Health and its consumer website (also available in Spanish at fairhealthconsumidor.org) won seven eHealthcare Leadership Awards, the most such honors it had ever received in a single year. The awards included the Mark Gothberg eHealthcare Organizational Commitment Award, the highest honor of the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, recognizing industry leadership, innovation and commitment.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "Each year, FAIR Health Consumer's year-end statistics show again how a healthcare cost transparency website can attract a broad range of users. We are pleased to see that consumers across the country are using the cost lookup tools and educational resources on the site to navigate the complexities of the healthcare system."

Top Medical and Dental Search Terms
FAIR Health Consumer includes medical and dental cost lookup tools that allow users to search for typical costs of healthcare procedures in their geographic areas. In 2020, procedure codes were added that allowed consumers to search for diagnostic tests for active COVID-19 infection and tests for past COVID-19 infection.

In 2020, the top five medical terms searched with the medical cost lookup tool were:

1. Physical therapy;
2. Chiropractic;
3. Anesthesia;
4. Psychotherapy; and
5. Ultrasound.

"Physical therapy" climbed up the list from 2019, when it was the fifth most common term searched. The rest of the top five terms were different in 2019.

In 2020, the top five dental terms searched were:

1. Root canal;
2. Implant;
3. Orthodontic;
4. Crown; and
5. Cleaning.

The top five dental terms in 2019 were the same, though in somewhat different order. "Root canal" topped the list both years.

Age and Gender
Although adults across the age spectrum used FAIR Health Consumer in 2020, the largest age group was that of individuals aged 65 and older—a change from 2019, when the largest age group was that of individuals aged 25-34. The age breakdown of FAIR Health Consumer users in 2020 was:

• 18-24: 8.84 percent;
• 25-34: 19.86 percent;
• 35-44: 14.05 percent;
• 45-54: 15.36 percent;
• 55-64: 19.56 percent; and
• 65+: 22.33 percent.

In 2020, 63 percent of FAIR Health Consumer users were female, 37 percent male. The percentage who were female grew since 2019, when 57 percent of users were female.

Insurance Status
As in 2019, all types of insurance status were represented among FAIR Health Consumer users in 2020, including out of network (31.5 percent), in network (28.4 percent) and uninsured (12.7 percent).

Top User Locations
The top 10 states from which visits to FAIR Health Consumer originated in 2020 were:

1. New York;
2. California;
3. Texas;
4. Florida;
5. New Jersey;
6. Illinois;
7. Georgia;
8. Pennsylvania;
9. Virginia; and
10. Ohio.

The list of top 10 states in 2019 was similar, except that it included Oregon (in fourth place) and did not include Ohio. In both years, all four US census regions (Midwest, Northeast, South and West) were represented.

Most Popular Educational Topics
FAIR Health Consumer features a rich library of FH^® Insurance Basics, articles and videos on healthcare costs and health insurance. One article added for 2020 is "How to Deal with COVID-19 Medical Costs." The most popular educational topics from this library in 2020 were:

• Types of out-of-network reimbursement;
• Negotiating your costs;
• How to review your medical bill;
• Estimating costs for a hospital stay; and
• Healthcare services not covered by health insurance.

Most Frequently Visited Total Treatment Cost Bundles
Using FAIR Health Consumer's medical cost lookup tool, consumers can view the overall cost of caring for certain chronic and acute conditions and event-based procedures with FH^® Total Treatment Cost bundles. In 2020, bundles were added for three COVID-19 scenarios: hospitalization, hospitalization with complexities and non-hospitalization. The most frequently visited bundles in 2020 were:

• C-section;
• Vaginal delivery;
• Knee replacement;
• Hip replacement; and
• Type 1 diabetes.

For an infographic with these statistics, click here.

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About FAIR Health
FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 32 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 2 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data products—including benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indices—to commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D; FAIR Health includes among the private claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish and an English/Spanish mobile app, which enable consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offer a rich educational platform on health insurance. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary's book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care—and How to Fix It and Elisabeth Rosenthal's book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

Contact:
Dean Sicoli
Chief Communications Officer
FAIR Health
646-664-1645
[email protected]

SOURCE FAIR Health

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