The Arkansas Insurance Department has been awarded $950,000 to give consumers access on their computers and smartphones to information about the cost of health care services, such as medical procedures and office visits, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday.
Lowell Nicholas, the Arkansas deputy insurance commissioner who is in charge of the department's rate review division, said the project will draw on information from a database of medical billing information that will be compiled by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, a nonprofit research and policy organization led by state Surgeon General Joe Thompson.
According to the Insurance Department's grant application, the first phase of the project -- scheduled for completion in November 2015 -- will give consumers access to the price of common procedures and services in different regions of the state.
The second phase, scheduled for completion in March 2016, will provide information on the prices charged by different hospitals and other health care providers.
The tools will include a website and mobile applications, according to the application.
In addition to looking up prices, Nicholas said, consumers will be able to enter information about their insurance coverage to calculate out-of-pocket costs for medical care.
Other states, including Colorado, have developed similar websites, he said.
"This is not a new discovery," he said. "We're using the pathway that some other states have done."
Arkansas is among 21 states that will share in $25 million in grants for health insurance rate review programs, according to the Health and Human Services Department announcement. The funding was made available under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Arkansas' award totaled $1,179,000, including $129,000 for a website upgrade and $100,000 to hire actuaries to analyze insurance company rate filings.
An earlier grant is funding the $1.7 million contract with the Center for Health Improvement to build the database of medical claims, Nicholas said.
He said he expects the center to start collecting the information from insurance companies and government agencies, such as the state's Medicaid program, next year.
In the meantime, the Insurance Department will award a contract early next year to the company that will build the website and other tools for consumers.
In addition to providing the consumer information, Nicholas said the database will give researchers and policymakers tools to analyze issues affecting health care costs and outcomes.
Information about individual patients' identities will be protected and won't be available to those analyzing the data, he said.
"There's no reason that this will not help the providers, the consumers, the insurers," Nicholas said. "This has usefulness for everybody when it's in its final form."
Metro on 09/20/2014