Online Price Shopping Tools Are Unreliable

It's unclear how common these inaccuracies with online estimators are, but the tools are becoming more popular, as patients shoulder a bigger share of the cost of their medical care. Outside companies are developing the online calculators, and most insurers offer them.

"Each one of them — whether it's Aetna, United, Cigna — they all have something," says Francois de Brantes, the director of the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute, a nonprofit based in Connecticut. De Brantes has been paying close attention to price-transparency tools.

"There's lots and lots of variability in the information that's provided to consumers," he says.

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