How much did the amputee pay at the hospital? An arm and a leg! 😵 Too much?
In other news, the Ohio Senate recently passed a hospital price transparency bill. 📄 The bill would make it much easier for people to know how much a trip to the hospital will cost them before they make the trip. 🧮
Here’s Five Fast Facts on the hospital price transparency bill:
- 🩺 On the List - Back in 2021, the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule was enacted. House Bill 49 requires hospitals to actually comply. According to the bill, hospitals must publish a clear list of charges for hospital services. They can also use an accurate price estimator tool to meet the requirement.
- 🚨 Caught Red Handed - The bill also allows patients who discover violations to file complaints with the Ohio Department of Health. If a violation is found, the state would impose penalties that match the federal penalties.
- 📚 History Lesson - A year ago, the Ohio House passed a bill ordering hospitals to publicly list standard charges for hospital services. The bill also would penalize hospitals that aren’t compliant. The Senate passed it, but the bill had changes that original supporters weren’t fans of. Now, the bill requires hospitals to publish estimates instead of actual prices and goes easier on penalties for non compliance.
- 🏥 What Rules? - According to a recent report, only 9% of Ohio hospitals are in full compliance with the rule. Compare that to the 35% rate among the 2,000 other nationwide hospitals reviewed.
- 🤷 Forgot Something - The report also revealed that Ohio hospitals published pricing lists, but many left out costs for certain health plans. In other words, a patient with a high deductible insurance plan might not be able to tell whether the cash price of a procedure would be cheaper than going through their insurance.
🔥Bottom line: Hospital costs shouldn’t be a giant mystery. Whoever’s footing the bill should know exactly what they’re paying for up front. Hopefully, Ohio hospitals get their rears in gear and this bill moves through to shake things up.
Do you wish medical costs were more transparent?
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