New online tool provides details about health care prices, financial assistance at Virginia hospitals
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The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association launched its new online tool providing information on health care prices and financial assistance policies for hospitals across Virginia, including three Henrico hospitals: Henrico Doctors’ Hospital, Parham Doctors’ Hospital and Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital.
VHHA’s tool allows individuals to look up specific hospitals and provides links directing them to information on each hospital’s specific financial assistance programs. The tool also offers a price estimator for each hospital where individuals can compare out-of-pocket care for specific procedures based on their insurance provider. Listings of hospitals’ machine-readable files that describe services and standard charges is also available through VHHA’s tool.
Parham Doctors and Henrico Doctors’ Hospital both operate under HCA Virginia Health System and share platforms for price estimation and information on financial assistance. Bon Secours St. Mary’s is part of the Bon Secours’ Health System and information on its financial policies and pricing shares a page with other Bon Secours locations.
The introduction of VHHA’s tool comes as Virginians experience a rise in deductible costs and co-pays from their health insurance plan. A recent analysis of economic trends in Virginia’s health care sector also found that premiums have increased over 15% between 2015 and 2020.
But, many Virginia hospitals continue to provide discounted services. In 2020, hospitals in the state provided more than $430 million in charity care to patients, according to a report to which both Bon Secours’ St. Mary’s and Henrico Doctors’ Hospital contributed.
