The new hospital pricing transparency law that has just passed is a MAJOR step in getting transparency for reasonable market value for hospital services!
On November 15, 2019, CMS finalized its expanded interpretations of section 2718 of the Public Health Service Act. The final rule requires all hospitals to make a list of gross charges, negotiated charges, a self-pay “walk-in rate” and a minimum and maximum negotiated charge for all services in the hospital charge description master (CDM) publicly available in a machine-readable format. It also defines a list of 300 shoppable services that must be made publicly available in a searchable, consumer-friendly format. The rule specifies the manner and format in which the lists are to be made publicly available. Hospitals that do not comply with the requirement may be subject to civil monetary penalty (CMP) of up to $300 per day.
What does this mean for you? It means you can know ahead of time what your costs will be. You will be able to go to any hospitals website and type in the procedure and your cost will be shown. This is an important first step in getting out of control medical costs under control.
Ms. Jenn Landers | Patient Advocate Alliance LLC Edited by Dr. Justin Groode
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