The concept of “shopping around” is a concept we are all familiar with. However, shopping around for non-emergency medical prices and procedures was a difficult thing to do, but it’s getting easier. A new law that took effect January 1, 2021 requires hospitals to publicly disclose their prices online in a consumer-friendly format. Essentially, each hospital will make available the estimated costs for the 300 most common, “shoppable” services (such as a hip replacement, having a baby, brain scan, etc). The goal is to allow consumers to shop around for the best prices and hopefully help eliminate the surprise medical bills. Of course, your out of pocket costs are still subject to your insurance plan. The good news is- there is another transparency rule in the works designed to help consumers determine their out-of-pocket costs. This is expected to be effective in 2023. For now, you can find the Lee Health in-patient and out-patient procedure prices at the links below. Naples Community Hospital has not updated to a consumer friendly list quite yet, but their pricing information is below, as well as Bayfront and Fawcett hospital in Port Charlotte.
https://www.nchmd.org/patients-and-visitors/compare-pricing
https://fawcetthospital.com/about/legal/detail-price-list.dot