A sign at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta directs visitors to the financial services department. However, a new advertisement by the advocacy group Patient Rights Advocate suggests that some hospitals are not complying with a law that requires them to publicly post prices. The satirical ad portrays a man asking about the price of ice cream and being told that the shop only provides estimates instead of actual prices. The ad aims to highlight the need for price transparency in healthcare and criticizes the use of estimates, arguing that people need price certainty. While hospitals have improved their compliance with price transparency rules, there is still room for improvement. The Biden administration has proposed a new rule to standardize the data required for price transparency and increase its usefulness for consumers. However, achieving exact price tags for healthcare in every situation may be challenging. Hospitals are required to publicly post prices for all services they offer, including negotiated prices with insurers and charges for cash-paying customers. The proposed rule aims to make it easier for consumers to determine their out-of-pocket costs for non-emergency hospital care. However, the complex nature of medical care and the unique needs of each patient may make it difficult to provide exact prices in every situation. The proposed rule also includes a category called “consumer-friendly expected allowed charges,” which provides information tied to how hospitals set prices and what they expect to be reimbursed by insurance companies. Critics argue that this may lead to more estimates, rather than dollar-and-cent assessments. While hospitals’ compliance with price transparency requirements has improved, there is still room for improvement. The Patient Rights Advocate claims that only 36% of hospitals reviewed in a recent report complied with all aspects of the law. The American Hospital Association disputes this, pointing to a CMS report that showed 70% of hospitals were compliant with current requirements. The proposed rule would increase enforcement actions against hospitals that fail to comply with transparency requirements and require hospitals to make data sets easier to find on their websites.
Proposed Rule Encourages Hospitals to Embrace Price Transparency: Shots
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