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Lab Test Price Transparency

Health care provider retail prices are higher than prices negotiated by insurers. Also, prices vary by health plan, provider, and geographic location. Castlight Health (NYSE: CSLT) is a health insurance company that was founded in 2010. Castlight has a cloud-based healthcare pricing service that provides online transparency.

Investigators from Castlight Health recently published a study in JAMA which demonstrated for the first time that patients who searched an online price transparency tool paid 14% less for laboratory tests and 13% less for imaging than nonusers (JAMA. Oct 2014;312(16):1670-1676).

More widespread adoption of price transparency tools by other insurers could significantly drive down the prices that patients pay for laboratory tests in the near future. 

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