FAIR Health Releases Video PSAs to Emphasize the Importance of Estimating Healthcare Costs

Targeted Videos a Key Component of FAIR Health Consumer Outreach Toolkit

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Jul 24, 2018, 06:36 ET

NEW YORK, July 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FAIR Health, a national, independent, nonprofit organization, has released a series of public service announcements (PSAs) targeted at different groups of healthcare consumers. Each PSA, found here, highlights a different consumer character with a specific health condition, from dental pain to diabetes. Together, these eight videos inform patient audiences about the importance of researching their healthcare costs and about the free healthcare cost estimator tools and educational resources available on the award-winning FAIR Health Consumer website, fairhealthconsumer.org.

FAIR Health Releases Video PSAs to Emphasize the Importance of Estimating Healthcare Costs

The characters in the videos are:

Annie, getting strong footing when researching her medical costs;
Arlene, getting a breather by researching asthma cost;
Bill, understanding his bill and seeing costs before treatment;
Carl, getting a handle on the cost of cancer treatment;
Dan, learning what the bite may be for his dental visit;
Doug, getting cost insights into treating diabetes;
Maria, making sure pregnancy costs are what she expects; and
Steve, doing the legwork on physical therapy costs.

The launch of the videos underscores FAIR Health's commitment to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information. Fairhealthconsumer.org offers medical and dental cost estimator tools for insured and uninsured consumers alike, and a consumer-friendly educational curriculum, FH^® Insurance Basics, which includes such categories as:

Choosing Your Health Plan (e.g., Types of Health Plans);
Your Costs (e.g., Flexible Spending Plans);
Choosing Your Healthcare Provider (e.g., In-Network and Out-of-Network Care);
Dental Coverage (e.g., Dental Plans);
Understanding Your Bill (e.g., How to Review Your Medical Bill); and
Your Rights (e.g., Appealing a Reimbursement Decision).

The website also features a glossary of common health insurance, medical and dental terms; a section on healthcare quality; and a resources section with links to state agencies concerned with health and insurance and to organizations focused on:

"We are pleased to add these PSAs to our consumer outreach toolkit as part of our mission to bring greater transparency to the healthcare sector," said FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd. "By targeting different consumers with specific healthcare scenarios, we are able to show how FAIR Health Consumer can be relevant to patients across the board."

The free PSAs are available here for distribution. For employers or health plans interested in licensing a private-label version of fairhealthconsumer.org to share with their employees or members, contact FAIR Health by email at [email protected] or by phone at 855-301-3247, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 6 pm ET.

About FAIR Health
FAIR Health is a national, independent, nonprofit organization 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 26 billion claim records contributed by payors and administrators who insure or process claims for private insurance plans covering more than 150 million individuals. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data products—including benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics, episodes of care analytics and market indices—to commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. FAIR Health also holds separate data representing the experience of more than 58 million individuals enrolled in Medicare. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a Qualified Entity, FAIR Health receives all of Medicare Parts A, B and D claims data for use in nationwide transparency efforts. 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 has earned HITRUST CSF and Service Organization Controls (SOC 2) certifications 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 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 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
Executive Director of Communications and Public Relations
FAIR Health
646-664-1645
[email protected]

SOURCE FAIR Health