With ever louder and frequent calls for consumer-driven health care, three reporters from the Indianapolis Business Journal tried to obtain, before seeking care, the basic price information necessary to make rational buying decisions in today’s health care market. Our success rate was just 12 percent. The story discusses whether the health care system is able to or ever will adapt to allow consumers truly to shop for health care.
Judges’ Comments: This enterprising consumer story explores the complexities behind a simple health-care question: How much will it cost? The answer is not so simple, thwarting cost-cutting ideas such as high-deductible insurance plans and medical savings accounts that seek to make patients more conscientious shoppers. Sadly, patients find themselves lost in a complex financial maze when trying to decipher the cost of basic health-care treatment.