Policy UpdatesCommercialNovember 6, 2024

Cost transparency

As a participating provider, you may have received our prior correspondence or read the articles in Provider News about cost transparency. Transparency tools such as our Find Care tool and others are available to members on Anthem.com. They allow members to estimate their out-of-pocket impact and view the estimated costs for many procedures.

In our prior correspondence, we also enclosed a summary of the methodology used to generate the cost estimate information housed in the National Consumer Cost Tool (NCCT), the source data used to display some of the costs in Find Care. For additional information, visit Provider News.

As a reminder, care provider cost estimates from NCCT data (currently known as BCBS Axis data) are now available in a secure section of the Availity Essentials website. Authorized representatives of participating facilities and professional practices can log in at Availity.com and register to view the cost estimates for their facility or practice. Cost estimates will be made available to our participating care providers no less than 30 days before they become available to our members on Anthem.com through transparency tools such as our Care Comparison.

As you may know, federal law also impacts the costs we display on our Find Care tool. Some of our tool’s costs come from our contracted provider rates, which are available in machine-readable files posted on our public website as required by the Transparency in Coverage regulation.

If you have any questions about this matter, you can email your provider relationship management representative.

Care providers who wish to share their cost estimate information with members on our website can submit a link to us within 30 days of receipt.

Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. Anthem is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.

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