WHY ARE HEALTHCARE BILLS OFTEN SURPRISING AND CONFUSING? CBS NEWS, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CLEARHEALTHCOSTS, INVESTIGATES HEALTH CARE BILLING IN “MEDICAL PRICE ROULETTE,” A NEW SERIES OF REPORTS BEGINNING MONDAY

WHY ARE HEALTHCARE BILLS OFTEN SURPRISING AND CONFUSING? CBS NEWS, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CLEARHEALTHCOSTS, INVESTIGATES HEALTH CARE BILLING IN “MEDICAL PRICE ROULETTE,” A NEW SERIES OF REPORTS BEGINNING MONDAY

Why do many Americans find healthcare bills often confusing, opaque and hard to understand? CBS News and ClearHealthCosts.com, a health costs transparency company, have partnered for a series of investigative reports to get to the bottom line on healthcare pricing. The new multiplatform series, “Medical Price Roulette,” begins Monday, Sept. 23, on CBS THIS MORNING (7:00-9:00 AM, ET) and the CBS EVENING NEWS (6:30-7:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network with more reporting featured all week across CBS News platforms, including CBS News Radio, CBSNews.com and CBSN, CBS News’ 24/7 streaming news service.

“Medical Price Roulette” will explore the problems and solutions surrounding the lack of transparency of medical costs charged by hospitals and providers, and why they vary – often dramatically. As part of the project, ClearHealthCosts journalists surveyed prices for 30 to 35 common medical procedures and tests in two sample metro areas, and they found dramatic price differences. Cash prices for a simple blood test in the Dallas area ranged from $10 to $176. The cost for an ultrasound of the abdomen in the San Francisco Bay Area ranged from $115 to an “estimate” of $2800.

“Consumers often complain of suffering from healthcare bill sticker shock after undergoing a medical procedure,” said Kimberly Godwin, CBS News’ Executive Vice President of News. “This important series will take a deep dive on this topic and shed light on why the same test can cost different prices, why medical bills are hard to understand, and what steps people can take to avoid being surprised by medical bills in the future.”

“People should know what things cost in health care,” said Jeanne Pinder, founder and CEO of ClearHealthCosts.com. “We’ll use the power of our communities to reveal the secrets of the marketplace, and join hands to make this opaque system more transparent.”

Consumer investigative correspondent for CBS THIS MORNING Anna Werner will report this complex issue throughout the series and survey pricing in two major cities, to show the wide variances in the costs of common procedures like ultrasounds, MRIs and mammograms. In addition to her reporting, Werner will also encourage viewers to share their stories via CBSNews.com/healthcosts and clearhealthcosts.com. The website will also provide resources for ways to save on health care costs and give answers to common questions about billing.

On Monday, Werner interviews Frank Esposito, who faced close to $700,000 in medical costs after receiving surgery in the ER for a herniated disk. He says doctors told him he could have been partially paralyzed if he did not have immediate surgery. Frank had insurance, but just weeks after the surgery, the bills came rolling in. His insurance company claimed the surgery was not medically necessary. He has hired a professional to fight back and has tapped into his retirement account to pay bills.

On Tuesday, Werner will speak with consumers hit with surprise medical bills in the two sample markets, Dallas and San Francisco.

Wednesday’s reporting features a 27-year-old chronic care patient with insurance who explored the dramatically changing cost of her own infusions. Werner explains what her experience tells us about the billing process and sits in with one consumer as she attempts to find out what the actual cost will be for her needed medical procedures.

About CBS News:

CBS News is the news and information division of CBS Corporation, dedicated to providing the highest quality journalism under standards it pioneered and continues to set in today’s digital age. Headquartered in the famed CBS Broadcast Center in New York, CBS News has bureaus across the globe and produces influential, critically acclaimed programs providing original reporting, interviews, investigations, analysis and breaking news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. CBS News provides news and information for the CBS Television Network, CBSN, CBSNews.com, CBS News Radio and CBS Mobile. CBS News is home to the nation’s #1 news program, 60 MINUTES, CBSN, the 24/7 digital streaming news network, and the award winning broadcasts CBS THIS MORNING, THE CBS EVENING NEWS, CBS SUNDAY MORNING, 48 HOURS and FACE THE NATION.

About ClearHealthCosts:

ClearHealthCosts.com is a New York City startup bringing transparency to the healthcare marketplace by telling people what stuff costs. Using a combination of shoe-leather journalism, database sourcing and curation, crowdsourcing and partnering, ClearHealthCosts.com is revealing the secrets of an opaque marketplace, and seeking to help solve one of the biggest problems we face as a nation. For more, visit clearhealthcosts.com.