FOCUS GROUPS ACROSS THE COUNTRY FOUND THAT PATIENTS WANT PRICE TRANSPARENCY IN HEALTHCARE

Patients had strong distrust and fear of the healthcare system.

Woman in Pittsburgh, PA
"My parents were in the hospital. Some doctors were coming in that were out-of-network in my parents' rooms, and we didn't know until we got home..."

Woman in Charlotte, NC
"I have insurance…I had one child this year who was hospitalized for five months…the amount of out-of-pocket costs that I have I staggering and overwhelming even with a company-based plan."

Woman in Charlotte, NC
"Neck was broken. Had to have surgery the day before Christmas that year…I [then] had a stroke and I found out I had two aneurysms. All of this is happening with no healthcare insurance…I'm currently $1.5 million in debt so I could be alive…I'll never get out of this."

Participants believed price transparency would lower prices.

Suburban Woman
"We look for better deals for a toaster, which is non-essential, and we use our coupons and discounts and everything. If [healthcare] was that transparent, it would be like going to eBay…"

People felt they had a right to know prices before a service or procedure, even if they weren’t sure how they would act upon that information.

Independent
"We pay for the insurance. We pay into it or our companies do…So why wouldn't we — why would we only know part of it?"

PATIENT STORIES AND VOTER TESTIMONY

Patients and their families feel overwhelmed and fearful about healthcare:

Sharon, Charlotte, NC
"I was actually in the [hospital] less than 24 hours. It was a shocking thing to see that my out-of-pocket was almost $4,000… When we spend our money, we know what things cost ahead of time. I don't understand why healthcare is the exception to that rule."

Voters support patients’ rights to know real prices in healthcare:

Kara, Harrisburg, PA
“By shopping around beforehand, we knew the claim was going to be $7,800, which is a 60% price difference. And it was at zero cost to me.”