WCHS charges least

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Weston County Health Services charges private insurers just 128% of what it paid Medicare, the lowest in the state according to a national study by the RAND Corp. that looked at 14 hospitals in Wyoming and nearly 1,600 facilities nationwide in 25 states. 
The report compared what Medicare paid for services, as well as what was billed to private insurance companies for the same procedures. Hospital CEO Maureen Cadwell told the News Letter Journal that the company conducting the study had to compare private rates to something but that Medicare is not necessarily the best comparison. 
“Saying we are 128% of Medicare doesn’t really say anything. WCHS is the lowest percent of those looked at in the state, that is all it says,” Cadwell said. “Health care costs are high and the study doesn’t tell you why. I think that is the bigger story. Why are they higher?”
According to Cadwell, the biggest reason for high health care costs in the state are technology needs and people wanting more and wanting it quicker and the services to be provided without any error. 
She also said that there are “significant amounts” of people in the state that are uninsured or underinsured. Those people still use facilities for health care, and those facilities are tasked with figuring out how to make it work, Cadwell said. 
“It isn’t like going to the store to get milk. We can’t charge a specific amount, and what we charge and what you pay is not the same. You just can’t compare it,” Cadwell said. 
The RAND Report found that while WCHS is the lowest in the state at 128%, the rest of the state did not favor as nicely. 
Only one other hospital in the state, Washakie Medical Center, charged under 200% at 198%, still higher than the local facility by 70%. SageWest Health Care in Fremont County was one of the highest charges in the state, charging private insurance more than 8 times what they charged Medicare and Evanston Regional was found to charge 589% higher. 
Wyoming as a whole charged private insurance plans 302% more than Medicare, a difference of $8 million.