Hospitals Need to Act Fast
to Avoid Price Transparency Rule Fines
On June 23, 2020, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the federal government and dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims on a motion for summary judgment. The plaintiffs include the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Children's Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, and several individual hospitals. On June 25, 2020, the plaintiffs filed their notice of appeal of the district court’s decision to the D.C. Court of Appeals.
What does this mean?
The Price Transparency Rule is still scheduled to go into effect on
January 1, 2021.
Hospitals need to act fast in order to meet the January 1, 2021, deadline and avoid a $300 per day fine.
Effective January 1, 2021, hospitals are required to have posted on their website a list of standard charges for at least 300 "shoppable services" in a patient-friendly format.
Each shoppable service must include the following information:
- Gross charges
- Payer-specific negotiated charges
- Discounted cash prices
- De-identified minimum negotiated charges
- De-identified maximum negotiated charges
Hospitals should immediately assess whether or not they have the resources in-house to meet the new Price Transparency Rule, or need outside assistance.
