Healthcare eats up 17 cents of every dollar New Mexicans earn and costs keep going up. Advocates in Santa Fe are pushing for a website that lists how much things cost at hospitals across the state as well as other transparency measures.

By Gwyneth Doland
New Mexico In Depth

Whether they’re shopping for a refrigerator, a laptop or a used car, most people do some comparison shopping before making a big purchase. But that’s not the way healthcare works in New Mexico, where comparing prices for a hip replacement or asthma treatment is practically impossible.

At issue is the fact that healthcare eats up 17 cents of every dollar New Mexicans earn and costs keep going up. Many New Mexicans who are now buying health insurance on the open market are getting plans with lower premiums and higher deductibles, making them suddenly conscious of how much health care they must pay for out of pocket.

It would help if we had a website listing how much things cost at hospitals across the state, say supporters of a bill that would require transparency in healthcare.

Senate bill 474, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, and co-sponsored by Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, would create a “health information system” to help consumers, policy-makers and health plan operators make more informed decisions about when, where and how to access healthcare.

Read more here: http://www.newmexicopbs.org/productions/newmexicoinfocus/consumer-advocates-demand-healthcare-transparency/