Officials say they’ve seen benefits of a health care cost transparency ordinance passed by the Anchorage Assembly last February, and now Ketchikan is exploring a similar measure to receive price tags for care.
At its Dec. 21 meeting, the Ketchikan City Council heard from PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, its main local provider, on questions of price transparency.
In a statement, Chamber of Commerce President Chelsea Goucher called for an ordinance that would require healthcare practitioners to disclose estimated medical costs to patients prior to receiving treatment.
The Ketchikan Chamber advocates an ordinance similar to Anchorage’s to help create better market conditions for consumers, to increase consumer satisfaction and to help mitigate the increasing trend of “medical tourism” to access services in other locations.
For the rest of this story, visit the Alaska Journal of Commerce.
