Hospitals to post prices online under new Trump administration rule
by Kimberly Leonard
| August 03, 2018 02:22 Pm
Hospitals will be required to post the prices they charge for surgeries and other medical procedures online under a new Trump administration rule.
The rule, finalized Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is part of the Trump administration's goal toward "value-based care," which aims to reduce the costs of healthcare while improving outcomes. Officials hope to be able to drive down costs by showing patients more information about what different medical procedures will cost, and at times encourage them to shop around.
Previously, CMS required that hospitals make the information available to anyone who asks for it. Under the new rule, hospitals will need to update the prices every year beginning Jan. 1, 2019.
"The agency is considering future actions based on the public feedback it received on ways hospitals can display price information that would be most useful to stakeholders and how to create patient-friendly interfaces that allow consumers to more easily access relevant healthcare data and compare providers," CMS said in a statement.
The posted prices are different than what most patients and health insurance companies pay for care, because each insurer or government payer such as Medicare negotiates payments.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/hospitals-to-post-prices-online-under-new-trump-administration-rule
