Has anyone ever used Smartshopper by Vitals?
Just found out about it and I am curious about whether you can use this in any US city with any insurance provider or if it only applies to specific insurers/cities/employers.
Basically, you have a medical procedure and if you go through Smartshopper they find a lower cost health option for the exact same procedure and cut you a small check for saving the insurance company money. Some examples were getting a check for $25 for getting blood work done at an especially cost efficient clinic vs your primary care doctor or other lab suggested by insurance. Another example was a very expensive procedure that typically costs the insurer $22,000 per month at a hospital but a local clinic could administer the same drug protocol for $5000 per month (cost to the insurer) and you end up getting a check for $500 (with the additional benefit of your company's group health plan less likely to increase in costs next year since the health plan didn't have to pay the additional $17,000 per time that you had to get said drug protocol administered).
I heard about it on a Planet Money podcast from 2015.
