MediBid, Healthcare Bluebook help you find quality prices

You can tell how much a gallon of gas costs by driving past gas stations and looking at the prices on their signs, then decide which one you want to use.

You can tell how much a gallon of milk will cost by looking at a store’s ad or a price card right underneath the jug in the store, then decide which brand you want to buy.

Health care (mostly) doesn’t work that way. Price transparency is rare. Hospitals don’t generally list the cost of their services at the door. Doctors’ offices usually don’t, either (although more are all the time). So, most of the time, you’ll have to guess what a procedure or service will cost you.

Not only that, but costs can vary by as much as 400 percent for the exact same procedure.

And you’re expected to choose the best price and quality based on … what?

But there’s help.

Samaritan Ministries members can access tools like Healthcare Bluebook and Medibid through the Health Resources app on their member Dashboard.

Healthcare Bluebook helps you to compare the quality and cost of health care in your area. You can search for procedures and services in your area, then compare the results and make an informed decision.

MediBid invites you to submit information about the services you need, then provides bids from doctors and facilities that have reviewed your request. You then get to choose which provider’s services, if any, you’d like to use.

As a Samaritan member, you can access these services at no cost to you through your member Dashboard’s Health Resources Center. Utilizing Healthcare Bluebook and Medibid to find quality medical providers at a reasonable cost also helps all Samaritan members by keeping the monthly share low.

Next time you need medical services, take advantage of these resources.