Network Health offers price transparency

Move will give patients estimated costs prior to procedures

August 26, 2008

Menasha, Wis.- With rising food and fuel costs, consumers are becoming more and more price conscious and are seeking out information about pricing before they buy. In health care, finding the price for a procedure isn't always possible, but Network Health has taken steps to meet consumers’ needs.  

Network Health has joined the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans transparency initiative. The initiative calls for all health plans to provide commercially insured members, on request, the estimated out-of-pocket cost for a specific service from a specific provider.

“Our goal is to help individuals become better equipped to make sound health care decisions,” says Sheila Jenkins, president of Network Health. “Joining the association’s initiative supports our members’ need to know.”

As part of the initiative, members can get a price estimate by calling the Network Health Customer Service department and providing the following information:

• the name of the provider,
• the facility where the service will be provided,
• the date of service,
• the provider’s estimate of charges for the service,
• the diagnosis code,
• the CPT code, Diagnosis code or Current Dental Terminology code to be billed by the provider.

A customer service representative will process the request and call the member with estimated amount they will need to pay toward the services.

The association’s initiative is a voluntary commitment to go beyond current regulatory requirements and to give members the cost information most relevant to them. Network Health will begin providing estimated costs on September 1, 2008.

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Network Health has offered customized commercial and Medicare health insurance services to area employers, individuals and families since 1982, and through its strong reputation for providing quality health care coverage and excellent customer service has grown to serve thousands of people in Northeast Wisconsin and beyond. Each year since 2002, Network Health has received the highest possible "Excellent" accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its commercial HMO insurance plans, and annually since 2004 it has been ranked in the Top 50 Health Insurance Plans in U.S. News and World Report's NCQA Best Health Plans in America listing.