Updated Tools Empower State Health Plan Members to Monitor Health Care Costs
January 31, 2008
From George C. Stokes, Executive Administrator for the State Health Plan:
State Health Plan members now have access to two online tools that empower users to monitor and compare average costs for physician office visits, diagnostic procedures and screenings, disease treatments, and prescription drugs. The updated tools are: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s (BCBSNC) Health Cost Estimator and Medco’s “My Rx Choices®.”
The Health Cost Estimator is designed to give members a clearer idea of the actual cost of procedures and allows members to compare BCBSNC’s statewide average cost for procedures in different health care settings. It includes:
- Physician office visits, with separate categories of average costs for a variety of services for men, women and children.
- Diagnostic screenings and surgical procedures, with average costs broken out by place of service (a physician’s office, ambulatory surgical center or hospital).
- Total average costs for treatment of diseases and conditions, like breast cancer treatment or heart bypass surgery. (This total average cost includes office visits, hospital costs, drugs, tests and other services.)
Members can access the Health Cost Estimator from the State Health Plan’s Web site by selecting “My Member Services” from the blue navigation bar at the right of each page on the State Health Plan’s Web site: www.shpnc.org. To use the tool, members must register their member number and establish a password.
State Health Plan members can manage the cost of their medications through Medco’s My Rx Choices®. Because the State Health Plan pharmacy program is administered through Medco, members will not see costs related to pharmacy benefits on BCBSNC’s Health Cost Estimator. The My Rx Choices® tool includes the following features:
- Price comparison for prescriptions from the Preferred Drug List. This feature allows users to identify potential cost-saving alternatives for generic equivalents or lower-cost brand name alternatives, which should be discussed with a physician.
- Prescription drug search option.
- Personal prescription history.
Members can access the My Rx Choices® tool from the State Health Plan’s pharmacy page at: www.shpnc.org/pharmacy-savings.html. Users must register and establish a password to access the tool.
We hope that State Health Plan members will find the Health Cost Estimator and My Rx Choices® tools useful in estimating and planning for family health care expenses.
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