Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont backed a campaign, called Vermont Affordable Care, focused on comparing pricing policies at independent facilities and academic centers.
The initiative — also led by St. Albans, Vt.-based Northwestern Medical Center, Colchester, Vt.-based Green Mountain Surgery Center, Williston, Vt.-based Vermont Diagnostic Imaging and South Burlington, Vt.-based OPEN Imaging — posted service costs at Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, N.H., the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vt., Northwestern Medical Center and independent facilities.
The website claims UVM Medical Center had the highest costs as of Oct. 1, such as $17,373 for inpatient vaginal deliveries of infants. The campaign indicates independent facilities, followed by Northwestern Medical Center, had the lowest costs.
Vermont newspaper Seven Days said Jan. 14 that a full-page ad ran in its paper and others throughout the winter.
“Each of us can help lower the cost of our healthcare without sacrificing quality,” the ad said, according to the outlet.
A spokesperson for BCBS of Vermont told Becker’s the effort intends “to educate Vermonters about how the cost and delivery of care impacts affordability for everyone.” The website says state residents spend 19.6% of their income on healthcare, whereas the national average is 7.9%. The spokesperson acknowledged that hospital prices, insurance costs, technological advancements, shifting regulations and pharmaceutical costs all shape the state’s healthcare landscape.
“No one can solve this problem alone and everyone in the system has a role to play to make sure quality care is affordable,” the spokesperson added.
Dartmouth Health said it was unaware of the campaign, which featured its prices as the second steepest after UVM Medical Center.
“We do find the ad to be ambiguous in details. For instance, it would be helpful to better understand what types of ‘independent facilities’ are being referenced as inpatient locations providing vaginal deliveries,” a Dartmouth Health spokesperson told Becker’s. “Our prices for these selected services reflect the fact that we care for patients with the most complex medical needs and that we offer a broad range of other needed services, many of which are reimbursed well below the cost we incur to provide them.”
Becker’s contacted UVM Health and will update this story if more information becomes available.
