2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) - ePosters-EP.17E.02 Assessing the True Cost of Lung Cancer Screening - Chargemaster, Payer, And Cash Price Discrepancies for CT Chest Imaging

EP.17E.02 Assessing the True Cost of Lung Cancer Screening - Chargemaster, Payer, And Cash Price Discrepancies for CT Chest Imaging

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The document presents a comparison of CT chest screening prices across eleven top U.S. hospitals, focusing on three metrics: the standard chargemaster rate, the average payer-negotiated price, and the discounted cash price. Key findings highlight significant disparities in pricing. On average, chargemaster prices are more than double the average payer-negotiated rates and cash prices. <br /><br />For example, Stanford Health Care lists a chargemaster rate of $684, whereas the average payer price is $1697, and the cash price is $274, resulting in a chargemaster/payer price ratio of 0.4 and a chargemaster/cash price ratio of 2.5. Duke Health shows a high chargemaster/payer price ratio of 3.1 and a ratio of 3.7 for chargemaster/cash prices. Conversely, NYU Langone Health has a relatively low chargemaster/payer price ratio of 1.2 but a high chargemaster/cash price ratio of 5.3, spotlighting peculiar billing practices.<br /><br />This price variability is underscored by the interquartile range (IQR) of 615 for chargemaster rates, indicating broad discrepancies between hospitals. The average chargemaster rate across these hospitals is $1060, with corresponding averages for payer-negotiated and cash prices being $626 and $515, respectively.<br /><br />In summary, the report illustrates that CT chest imaging costs vary significantly both within individual hospitals and across different institutions. These findings could have implications for healthcare pricing transparency and policy, urging further investigation into the rationale behind such disparate pricing models and the impact on patient access to affordable healthcare services.

Asset Subtitle

Mason Alford-Holloway

Meta Tag

Speaker Mason Alford-Holloway

Topic Global Health, Health Services, and Health Economics

Keywords

CT chest screening

hospital pricing

chargemaster rate

payer-negotiated price

cash price

pricing disparities

healthcare transparency

pricing policy

patient access

healthcare costs