Have you ever wondered how much a surgery, X-ray or medical appointment is going to cost you?

A new Colorado tool, launched by the state and nonprofit PatientRightsAdvocate.org, is offering patients an opportunity to easily search for these answers. 

Called the Colorado Hospital Price Finder, the online tool allows you to search for a hospital and see how much it charges based on the payer, whether that’s an insurance company, employer or otherwise. 

While the tool offers information based on past charges, it warns that actual costs should be verified by the hospital or provider.

The tool utilizes health care information made available under a 2022 state law that requires hospitals to post clear, accessible pricing information for all items and services. 

“For far too long there has been a veil of secrecy and confusion that has made it hard for payers, whether that’s employers, municipalities, school districts, and other purchasers of health care, to negotiate lower prices with hospitals,” stated Lt. Governor Primavera in a news release. “This tool breaks down barriers and helps purchasers and policymakers access the information they need to lower costs for consumers.” 
Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy & Financing released a similar tool in September, which compares multiple hospitals’ gross charges, cash discounted prices, estimated Medicare costs and commercially negotiated prices. This tool, leveraging similar data made available by the 2022 state law and 2021 Federal Price Transparency Rule, organizes and displays it differently than the new Colorado Hospital Price Finder.