Why do you think hospitals don’t want patients to know the costs up-front?
Hospitals have begun publishing their actual costs of services, including discounted cash and negotiated rates as a result of a rule change implemented by former President Donald Trump. The rule was challenged by the American Hospital Association and others, who lost in federal district court.
An appeal to the court ruling has not yet been filed. While the association says it is calling on the new administration to adjust the rule, hospitals in the meantime must publish prices for the majority of the services and medications they provide.
The rule went into effect Jan. 1.
The rule change enables patients and employers to know how much a procedure costs beforehand and to be able to shop around to find a better price or negotiate compared to what other hospitals charge. It also eliminates the problem many patients have had – not knowing the cost of a procedure until after it is performed and after getting the bill in the mail.
“With access to real prices, including discounted cash and secret negotiated rates, patients and employers are now empowered to shop for less expensive care and avoid pervasive price gouging, overbilling, and ruinous healthcare bills,” Cynthia A. Fisher, founder of Patient Rights Advocate, who championed the reform, told The Center Square.
“Price transparency will usher in a functional, competitive health care marketplace that will put downward pressure on prices while improving quality,” Fisher added. “System-wide price transparency will revolutionize American health care, allowing consumers to protect their health and wealth for generations to come.”
The American Hospital Association, a powerful lobbying group opposing the rule, argued that it’s not in patients’ best interest to know the costs of services. Tom Nickels, an executive vice president at AHA, told Kaiser Health News, “We want to be of help to consumers, but is it really in people’s best interest to provide privately negotiated rates?”
About 90 percent of those surveyed in multiple polls conducted by Harvard Harris polls answered “yes” to the transparency question.