Getting patients to shop wisely is a milestone in health care. A large study by the group RAND found that when patients who are not paying for their medical care can choose between lower-cost and higher-cost care, they choose the more expensive care. They assume the more expensive, the better, a correlation that may work in other industries. But that’s not the case for many types of treatment in American health care. Employers love Healthcare Bluebook and pay for the service because they may be saving the difference between $37,000 and $1,500, just as Jeffrey did when he shopped for a hospital
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