Kansas remains among a shrinking number of states that store detailed information about health care prices, but that won’t share it with a prominent think tank trying to compare the cost of hospital care nationally.
The RAND Corp. expects about a dozen of the approximately 20 states with such databases will provide the information for its most extensive dive yet into hospital prices.
But Kansas health and insurance officials say the figures represent company matters that the state isn’t allowed to disclose.
“Private contracts would be considered a trade secret,” the Kansas Insurance Department said in an email.
Hospitals and insurers reach prices in closed-door negotiations.
RAND, known for research on public policy and health issues, began its annual deep dive into hospital prices in 2017. Employers had approached the think tank for help because they badly wanted to compare prices and gain some leverage against bills ballooning much faster than overall inflation.
Each year, more employers jump on board, letting RAND see what they paid for specific services at specific hospitals. RAND bulks up the data set by asking states for claims, too.
Then employers can see how prices compare across hospitals.
“They can say ‘Look, one hospital is really expensive,’” RAND researcher Christopher Whaley said, “’And there’s another hospital that is lower priced and higher quality.’”
In Indiana, employers used RAND’s revelations to push for better deals in direct negotiations with health care providers.
In other cases, employers press the insurers they work with to renegotiate rates.
About 20 states, including Kansas, can see the prices paid by private insurers and employers to hospitals because these states collect medical claims for regulatory or research purposes.
Last year, six states shared price information with RAND. This year, Whaley expects about a dozen will.
But not Kansas.
The state’s database of private insurance claims covers 800,000 Kansans — typically people who work for small employers or who bought care on the federal exchange — according to the Kansas Health Institute.
