"If narrow networks are like restricting the stores where your kids are allowed to shop, reference pricing is like telling your kids they can shop anywhere. But you will only pay, say, $30 towards the cost of a pair of jeans. If they choose to spend $100 on Buffalo jeans at the mall, they must pay the $70 difference. Several years ago insurer WellPoint partnered with [CalPERS] on a reference-pricing program to encourage enrollees to patronize lower-cost hospitals. It worked -- enrollees quickly shifted to hospitals that charged less for joint replacement surgery."