FAIR Health Launches Cost Transparency Mobile App in Spanish

Funded by Grant from The New York Community Trust

Increased Out-of-Pocket Costs, Low Health Literacy and Large Numbers of Newly Insured Consumers Drive the Need for Language-Specific Decision-Support Tools

News provided by

FAIR Health

Sep 29, 2015, 10:03 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- FAIR Health today launched a Spanish-language healthcare cost transparency mobile app designed to make healthcare information more accessible to the Latino population. Today's announcement marks a major milestone in an initiative funded by a New York Community Trust (NYCT) grant awarded to FAIR Health supporting the development of the app and the promotion of its use among Latino communities throughout New York City's five boroughs.

The pace of change across the healthcare landscape, is dramatically increasing with major implications for individual consumers: the advent of public and private healthcare exchanges, the growth of health plans with increased member cost-sharing and narrow networks and the overall drive toward value in healthcare are requiring patients to make complex healthcare decisions and to become aware of the cost of their care.

Due to the scarcity of in-language resources, these changes present challenges that can be daunting for those whose first language is Spanish. The FAIR Health app will put essential cost information and educational materials into the hands of the Latino community.

FAIR Health is an independent, nonprofit organization committed to transparency in healthcare cost and health insurance information. A central part of FAIR Health's mission is to ensure that its consumer cost estimator tools and educational platform continue to advance healthcare literacy and empower consumers to make informed decisions regarding their health coverage and expenses. FAIR Health's award-winning website, available free of charge to consumers, is already available in both English and Spanish, and includes medical and dental cost lookup tools and educational materials.

The new Spanish-language mobile app, FH^®CCSalud, enables insured Spanish-speaking consumers to estimate their out-of-pocket costs and insurance reimbursement for medical and dental services received out-of-network; uninsured consumers can obtain an estimate of the full cost of procedures in their geographic area. Consumers also now have on-the-go access to educational guides, glossaries and resources that can be easily consulted when deciding whether to stay in-network or go out-of-network for care, discussing prices for services with providers, comparing ongoing costs when choosing a health plan, and more.

"We are gratified by The New York Community Trust's support of our efforts to help Latino consumers take a more active role in their healthcare decisions," remarked FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd. "The release of this mobile app is a major step towards realizing our goal of providing Latino patients with easy access to the resources they need to better manage their financial healthcare decisions."

The new app is driven by cost information based on FAIR Health's unmatched database of over 18 billion claims for privately billed medical and dental procedures dating back to 2002. FAIR Health receives data from contributors that collectively insure more than 150 million individuals in the private healthcare system. FAIR Health's English-language consumer app, FH^®Cost Lookup; English-language website (www.fairhealthconsumer.org) and Spanish-language website (www.consumidor.fairhealth.org) also were developed from this robust database.

"FAIR Health's comprehensive data assets and prior experience developing consumer tools and mobile apps made it the ideal organization to create and promote this application," said Irfan Hasan, Senior Health Program Officer at The New York Community Trust " This grant underscores The Trust's commitment to advancing healthcare literacy and empowering all New Yorkers to make smart decisions.

"By funding the creation and dissemination of a Spanish-language mobile app that promotes health insurance literacy, The New York Community Trust sees the clear need for resources that help underserved Latino communities improve their ability to navigate the complexities of our healthcare system," said George Zeppenfeldt-Cestero, President of the Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives (www.ahhe.org). "Supported by FAIR Health's robust claims data, this new app will help the uninsured and newly insured alike make more informed choices when selecting plans and managing their healthcare expenses."

About FAIR Health
FAIR Health is a national, independent, nonprofit corporation dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through comprehensive data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health uses its database of billions of privately billed medical and dental services to power an award-winning free website available in English and Spanish and to create data products serving a wide range of healthcare stakeholders. Government officials, employers, brokers, hospitals, medical facilities, doctors, insurers and others use FAIR Health data for a variety of purposes. For more information, visit www.fairhealth.org.

About the New York Community Trust
Since 1924, The New York Community Trust has been the home of charitable New Yorkers who share a passion for the City and the suburbs—and who are committed to improving them. The Trust supports an array of effective nonprofits that help make the City a vital and secure place to live, learn, work and play, while building permanent resources for the future. The New York Community Trust ended 2014 with assets of $2.6 billion in more than 2,000 charitable funds, and made grants totaling $165 million. The Trust welcomes new donors. (www.nycommunitytrust.org)

Media contact: Anayo Afolabi, 1-646-741-9029, [email protected]

SOURCE FAIR Health