The increasing trend of medical expenses is well documented nationwide (PDF, 586.05KB). To conduct state-specific investigations, the Insurance Commission’s office contracted with Onpoint Health Data to analyze trends in health care costs in Washington State, examining both the use of medical services and the prices of those services. ..
Onpoint used billing data from the Washington State All Payers Billing Database (WA-APCD) (www.wahealthcarecompare.com) to create a dashboard of health bill trends. WA-APCD was established to improve the transparency of health care costs and uses, and to support and inform health policy decisions. This includes over 50 private healthcare payers and claims from Medicaid and Medicare programs. Only commercial claims were used in this analysis.
The Healthcare Expenses Dashboard includes analysis of inpatient, outpatient, medical professional, and prescription drug spending claims, as well as additional analysis of inpatient services and mental health service types. ambulance service. Claim data includes:
- Individual, small group, and large group health plans, including plans sold through the Washington Health Benefits Exchange and civil servant health benefit plans.
- Registrants from 0 to 64 years old
- Claims paid in the calendar year 2016-2019
- Services received by Washington residents
- Total costs paid by both health insurance and consumer payments for services
- Claims with the first service date of 2016-2019 from January 1st to December 31st
- Claims for registrants covered by both pharmacies and medical insurance between 2016 and 2019
- Group registrants, who make up the majority of care, paid on a free service fee basis
The results of the cost trend analysis are detailed in the interactive dashboard below. Here you can see usage and price trends across different service categories from 2016 to 2019. Details of the analysis methodology are at the bottom of the dashboard.
Interactive Dashboard of Washington State Health Trends (public.tableau.com)
