NASHVILLE, Tenn., (March 10, 2009) – The disappearance of 3.6 million jobs since December 2007 — and more than 1.7 million in the last three months– is enough to make anyone ill. But the additional loss of healthcare coverage and the unpredictable cost of medical care can not only make you sick, it can put your financial future in the Intensive Care Unit.
Cost transparency firm change:healthcare has a prescription that will significantly ease a downsized employee’s healthcare and financial distress.
The web-based company is underscoring that resources which can reduce the cost of a person’s healthcare are available free-of-charge to the recently severed and current employees as well as general consumers.
“Job loss is a frightening thing to both employees who are let go, as well as those who remain,” says Christopher Parks, CEO of change:healthcare, a Health 2.0 firm that helps employees and consumers make better, money-saving healthcare decisions. “When layoffs occur, one of the single largest concerns employees have after food and shelter is their healthcare. But there are ways employers can provide healthcare help to their dislocated employees, as well as those that remain on staff, with little or no cost.”
For starters, access to change:healthcare’s website costs tools and information resources (www.changehealthcare.com) are completely free and directly accessible to all consumers. The site allows anyone to view the cost of medical services, providers and pharmaceuticals in their area, based on actual medical claims, so they can see where less expensive alternatives can be purchased. The site provides a wealth of information but becomes more personal when companies in the area, as well as consumers, input their own medical claims to gain a picture of how their purchases compare to other options.
The website is typically used by companies to help employees make more value- and quality-driven healthcare purchases. Some companies have realized potential savings of 30-40 percent in their healthcare costs since using the site.
Other free resources available to displaced employees include ratings and social networking tools that give users a way to confidentially rate, share and compare the quality of their experiences with physicians, providers, costs and medical issues.
A series of downloadable, practical information sheets that better guide consumers in dealing with real-life healthcare issues, including “Negotiating large medical bills,” “A guide to COBRA,” “Choosing a Health Plan” and “Asking a Doctor about Generics to Cut Prescription Costs” is also available free-of-charge.
Additionally, the company’s recently released book, My Healthcare is Killing Me: A Survival Guide for the American Healthcare Consumer, which was an early #1 health read at Amazon.com, can be downloaded (www.myhealthcareiskillingme.com) at no cost. Written by change:healthcare’s CEO and COO, the tongue-in-cheek book helps demystify the American healthcare system so readers can better understand and navigate it. The book is loaded with tips for saving healthcare dollars.
“We’re focused on bringing greater transparency to our healthcare system and making information and resources like these available to people currently going through great trials, is at least one way we can help,” Parks said.
About change:healthcare, inc.
change:healthcare, inc. (www.changehealthcare.com) is a technology company dedicated to helping people save money and make smarter healthcare consumer decisions. The company’s information and internet-based solutions are available to third party administrators, healthcare providers, medical bill adjudicators, consumers and employers interested in controlling healthcare costs by engaging their employees in making informed healthcare choices.
Download the PDF of this press release here.
