Medical pricing still a source of confusion for consumers in California

Los Angeles Times writes that consumers are still confused when comparison shopping for medical procedures despite state efforts in California to simplify the process. Under a state law that took effect in 2006, hospitals must publish their average charges for the most common procedures on a state website. But relatively few take the extra step of listing prices on their own websites, where people are more likely to be looking for pricing information, according to healthcare experts. California state Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) is the sponsor of a bill requiring hospitals to disclose all potential healthcare charges to patients. On a similar topic, Information Week writes that healthcare cost reports are doing little to help consumers pick quality providers or save money, for themselves or the healthcare system at large, expert says.  Many people equate more care and higher costs with high quality. Reports intended to help consumers choose lower-cost healthcare services may have the unintended effect of driving them away from more affordable providers that may in fact be better than more expensive ones.