S1, Ep 5- Mind Boggling: Patients In The Dark

Patients are the last to know how much their insurance premiums, pharmaceuticals and hospital costs will be. What will it take for the healthcare system to become more transparent so patients have more information to make informed decisions and save money? "It is just disturbing that the federal government, the largest payer of healthcare in the United States, does not have audit rights to go in, open up the ledgers of the pharmacy benefit managers and see where the money is going,“ says Dr. Robert Popovian, Chief Science Policy Officer at the Global Healthy Living Foundation. Among the highlights in this episode:  1:25- Why is transparency in our healthcare system important?  2:42- The 3 entities that benefit from the lack of transparency 3:30- How patients are harmed by the lack of transparency 3:55- Can too much transparency undermine the competitive marketplace?  6:01- Are federal or state governments doing anything to improve transparency? 7:51- What is the most effective legislation that will impact the most patients?  8:40- 8:53-  "It is just disturbing that the federal government, the largest payer of healthcare in the United States, does not have audit rights to go in, open up the ledgers of the pharmacy benefit  managers and see where the money is going." 10:30- Is there hope to see changes? 10:13- Robert’s story of how surprise billing impacted his hospital visit 11:52- The goal is to strive for better information for patients so they can make more educated decisions 12:17- Conner and Robert's takeaways from this episode Contact our hosts:  Dr. Robert Popovian, Chief Science Policy Officer at GHLF, [email protected]  Conner Mertens, Patient Advocate and Community Outreach Manager at GHLF, [email protected]  We want to hear what you think. Send your comments, or a video or audio clip of yourself to [email protected]. Listen to all episodes of Healthcare Matters on our website or on your favorite podcast channel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.