Latest news with #HospitalPriceTransparencyRule
American Press
30-07-2025
- Health
- American Press
Dozens of Louisiana hospitals in violation of Trump price transparency order
Louisiana hospitals are increasingly under fire for violating federal price transparency rules, with three facilities fined in the past five months as part of a renewed enforcement push by the Trump administration. In May, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a $93,214 civil penalty to Community Care Hospital in New Orleans for repeated failures to post pricing information required under federal law. The agency found the hospital had no machine-readable pricing file online, failed to include key charge elements for shoppable services, and did not provide required website links or file formats. Earlier this spring, Northlake Behavioral Health System in Mandeville was fined over $257,000 for similar violations. Advocates say the surge in penalties highlights how far many hospitals remain from giving patients clear, upfront prices — and how Louisiana lags behind the rest of the country. 'Hospitals in Louisiana are falling short of the necessary federal price transparency requirements that have been in place since 2021,' Connie Partoyan, Executive Director at Better Solutions for Healthcare, told The Center Square. 'With health care costs continuing to climb, Louisiana patients and employers have a right to know exactly what they're paying for when they go to a hospital.' Ilaria Santangelo, research director for — a nonprofit watchdog group tracking hospital transparency — said such penalties are long overdue. 'Everyone's gotten that medical bill in the mail and been flabbergasted,' Santangelo said in an interview with The Center Square. 'We see prices vary tenfold in the same hospital for the same procedure, and over thirty times between hospitals in the same region.' According to the group's November 2024 compliance report, only 15% of Louisiana hospitals reviewed were fully compliant with the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule — worse than the national average of 21.1%. And just 13% of Louisiana facilities posted enough real, dollars-and-cents prices to allow meaningful price comparisons. According to Santangelo, most hospitals in Louisiana are giving patients estimates or unintelligible algorithms instead of accountable prices. 'Most of the hospitals we looked at posted estimates or incalculable algorithms in lieu of actual prices, which made these pricing files unable to be shopped,' Santangelo said. The price transparency rule, first enacted via a 2019 executive order by then-President Donald Trump, requires hospitals to post their negotiated rates, cash prices, and de-identified minimum and maximum charges in a machine-readable format. Though the Biden administration maintained the rule, Santangelo says it weakened enforcement and allowed hospitals to substitute actual prices with estimates or algorithms. In practice, that rollback let hospitals obscure their prices behind averages and formulas that can't be verified, Santangelo said. 'President Trump's reaffirming his commitment to real price transparency with his February executive order that in bold, required real prices and not estimates,' she said. Under the revised Trump-era enforcement regime, hospitals must now attest — under penalty of law — that their pricing data is accurate and complete. The administration also proposed a new rule in 2025 to eliminate the use of uncalculable estimates, tighten algorithm standards, and improve access to price data. CMS can issue civil fines of up to $5,500 per day depending on a hospital's bed count. According to Santangelo, only about 20 hospitals in noncompliance were ever fined over four years. 'Who knows why compliance is low, but hospitals were not meaningfully penalized enough for non compliance,' Santangelo said. CMS itself has formally acknowledged a significant ramp‑up in its enforcement of hospital price transparency. Under its April 26, 2023 enforcement update, the agency disclosed that it had expanded from roughly 30–40 to over 200 comprehensive pricing reviews per month, and had issued more than 730 warning notices and 269 corrective action plan requests as of April 2023.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Attorney general targets 2 Florida hospitals over lack of price transparency
Attorney General James Uthmeier issued subpoenas Friday to Florida-based hospitals to ensure they comply with price transparency laws. 'Patients are still consumers, and they deserve transparency,' Uthmeier said in a video posted on X. 'The big healthcare industry complex continues to rake in billions off Americans in their most vulnerable moments. We must protect patients.' Uthmeier said under Florida law, a hospital's failure to provide price disclosure may constitute an unfair and deceptive trade practice. He said his subpoenas are related to patient charges, disclosures, billing practice, price transparency and surprise billing protections. The attorney general said his investigation is in line with President Donald Trump's price transparency executive order. Patient advocacy groups in Florida have been pushing for more price transparency. 'Hospitals have hidden their prices yet have forced patients to sign a blank check before they can get care,' said Cynthia A. Fisher, founder and chairman of a nonprofit focused on healthcare price transparency. 'As long as prices have been hidden, hospitals have been able to charge whatever they want. The attorney general's action aims to protect patients by providing actual, upfront prices. This investigation will protect Floridians from hospitals' predatory practices, prevent overcharges, and make bills accountable.' Uthmeier's subpoenas were delivered to Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida in Jacksonville and Adventist Health (Advent Health) in Central Florida, according to the advocacy group. released its seventh semi-annual Hospital Price Transparency Report in fall 2024, which examined 2,000 hospitals' compliance with the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. The November 2024 report indicates that only 29% of hospitals in Florida were fully compliant with the federal price transparency rule, a drop from 41% in February 2024. Only 39 of 135 Florida hospitals reviewed were fully complying with the rule. 'By keeping their prices hidden, hospitals continue to block American consumers from their right to compare prices and protect themselves from overcharges,' Fisher said. 'During a patient's most vulnerable hour, all too often, hospitals require them to sign contracts accepting full financial responsibility without acknowledging any prices. Florida law clearly states that unfair and deceptive acts and practices are 'unlawful,' which include omitting material information like prices. Yet, that is exactly what Florida hospitals have been doing.' Florida Health Price Finder is a state-operated website developed by the Agency for Health Care Administration to show prices of common services. South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PatientRightsAdvocate.org Calls on Nevada Gov. Lombardo to Support Hospital Price Transparency Bill
A.B. 343 would turn Trump executive order into state law CARSON CITY, Nev., May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- (PRA) is urging Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo to sign A.B. 343, major legislation to deliver hospital price transparency to Nevadans that was passed out of the Nevada Legislature earlier this week. If enacted, the bill would require Nevada hospitals to post all actual prices of available services online, so patients can see upfront prices before care, as well as provide tools for patients to seek recourse when they have been overcharged. It would codify the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule first enacted in January 2021 under President Donald J. Trump and since expanded in February 2025. "A new era for Nevada patients is on the horizon, and now it's up to Governor Lombardo to make healthcare history for his state," said PRA Founder and Chairman Cynthia Fisher. "This monumental legislation will protect Nevadans from hospital overcharges, surprise bills, and hidden fees with guaranteed access to upfront, actual prices in exact dollars and cents. Complete price transparency will be transformative to lower the costs of care and coverage for families, employers, unions, and Nevada's entire healthcare market." According to a new poll conducted by Echelon Insights, 96% of Americans agree that healthcare consumers should know the upfront price of their care. Meanwhile, according to PRA's Seventh Semi-Annual Hospital Price Transparency Report, only 35% of Nevada hospitals reviewed are fully complying with the federal price transparency rule. Of the 2,000 hospitals reviewed nationwide, just 21% were found to be in full compliance. "We applaud Nevada lawmakers, especially the bill's sponsor, Assembly Speaker Yeager, for responding to not only the urgency but also the popularity of this commonsense issue," added Fisher. "The fight for real prices is a nationwide movement that is growing each day, from the nation's capital to state capitals. Governor Lombardo can help Nevada join states like Ohio and Oklahoma that each enacted similar bills this year codifying President Trump's price transparency rule to put patients first. We strongly encourage Governor Lombardo to seize the opportunity at hand and sign A.B. 343." About PRA (PRA) is a leading national healthcare price transparency organization dedicated to ushering in systemwide transparency through advocacy, testimony, media, legal research, and grassroots campaigns. PRA believes that the availability and visibility of actual, upfront healthcare prices will greatly lower costs for patients and employers through a functional, competitive healthcare marketplace. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Patient Rights Advocate Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
