Since January, Clinton School student Lindsey Johnson has been researching legislation that will enable consumers and policymakers to understand the real costs of health care services in Arkansas.
Johnson has worked with Dr. Glen Mays, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, to study the possible implementation of all-payer claims database in Arkansas.
Johnson completed the project as her final requirement in the Clinton School Master of Public Service degree program.
Despite continuous discussion about the expense of the health care system, consumers and policymakers have very little information about how much individuals and insurers are actually paying. Most patients do not know the price of their care until weeks or even months after they have received services, Johnson said.
To address this information gap, 12 states have already passed legislation to create all-payer claims databases, and several others are in the process of developing similar initiatives.
In general, the databases house insurance claims from all private and public health insurers in a state. They have been used to provide detailed cost and quality measures to consumers and to identify statewide variations.
For example, researchers can use the databases to compare average cost of a colonoscopy at all facilities in Little Rock, Conway and Benton. They can also identify where Arkansans are going to receive health care, which will improve both public and private efforts to improve access to services for all Arkansans.
In October 2010, Mays was one of several local health policy leaders who attended a conference in Salt Lake City on all-payer claims databases.
They met with leaders from across the country who have used these systems to improve transparency and strengthen publicly funded health programs. Johnson is providing these leaders with the information that they need to propose enabling legislation in Arkansas.
Johnson has interviewed database directors in Colorado, Maine, Tennessee, Utah and Vermont and several national experts and has created a series policy briefs and presentations. They may also be distributed to other interested groups to solicit support for the creation of a database.
Johnson’s policy briefs explain the development and implementation processes in many states and highlight the different options for Arkansas policymakers. They also demonstrate the potential benefits for consumers, private insurers, Medicaid programs and health care providers.
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