Hospital Pricing Data Troves Raise Stakes on Employer Plan Costs

Employers that sponsor health plans are beginning to have more options for comparing prices they pay to hospitals as more organizations ramp up data services that at times show large cost variations for medical treatments.

“We’re seeing wide price variation even in the same hospitals on the same day based upon the negotiated prices by the differing health insurance carriers or health plans,” said Cynthia Fisher, founder and chairman of the philanthropic group Patient Rights Advocate, which provides free price data for nearly all of the more than 6,000 hospitals in the US. “For the employers, this is eye-opening.”

Being ...