Better Solutions for Healthcare

Burlington Free Press: Vermont state auditor touts hospital price transparency tools as key to saving money

By Dan D’Ambrosio

August 30, 2021

Price transparency tools on state hospital websites will save Vermonters money on their health care, according to State Auditor Doug Hoffer.

“With these new tools, Vermonters no longer have to pay just any price for medical care, they can pay the best price,” Hoffer said in a news release. “In doing so, Vermonters can take some control of the cost of their health care.”

The price transparency tools, which allow patients to check online the costs of 300 common procedures, were required by the federal government as of Jan. 1, 2021.

Hoffer has included links to every Vermont hospital’s price estimator tool, as well as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, in New Hampshire, on his State Auditor website.

Hoffer cited a hypothetical case where a patients needs a knee replacement and finds that one hospital typically charges $26,000 for the surgery while another typically charges $36,000.

“Which facility will you choose?” Hoffer asked in a news release.