White House wins hospital price transparency ruling
A US judge has ruled in favour of the Trump Administration’s requirement of hospitals and insurers to disclose the actual prices for common tests and procedures
Despite the American Hospital Association's (AHA) objections, hospitals and insurers in the US will now need to disclose their negotiated prices, as per a new court ruling.
Under the ruling, hospital providers must release pricing information for up to 300 so-called ‘shoppable services’ by January 2021, and hospitals must also publish gross charges (non-discounted charges for each item), payer-specific negotiated charges (charges hospitals negotiate with a third-party payer such as an insurer) and discounted cash prices.
“This transformative hospital price transparency rule has been fought at every step by the swamp and defenders of the status quote,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement.
New rule could impact provision of care
However, the AHA insists that this price transparency ruling will only achieve ‘widespread confusion’ among patients.
“The AHA continues to believe that the disclosure of privately negotiated rates does nothing to help patients understand what they will actually pay for treatment and will create widespread confusion for them,” Melinda Hatton, General Counsel for the AHA said. “We also believe it will accelerate anticompetitive behaviour among commercial health insurers and hinder innovations in value-based care delivery. Lastly, the requirement imposes significant costs on care providers at a time when scarce resources are needed to fight Covid-19 and save lives.”
The hospital association has therefore urged President-elect Joe Biden to review the rule.
The separate regulation that applies to insurers, Transparency in Coverage, has yet to be finalised, but requires insurers instead to publish their negotiated rates.
Back in November, Hospitals & Healthcare took a look at what the new price transparency ruling could mean for international patient care operations in the country.