Hospitals at large are failing at price transparency

<p>Last week, members of the Subcommittee on Health <a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/HHS.2021.04.13.pdf">sent the US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra a letter</a>, urging the agency to enforce compliance for the Hospital Price Transparency Final Rule, which went into effect on January 2021.</p><p>The rules requires hospitals to make available to the public a machine-readable list for all standard charges for items and services and to display an easy-to-read list for the most shoppable health care services for patients. </p><p>But, hospital compliance to the rule currently looks lacking.</p><p>The letter cites a <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210311.899634/full/"><em>Health Affairs </em>study</a> that found 65 of the 100 largest hospitals were "unambiguously non-compliant" between January 2021 to early February 2021. In addition, in April 2021 the <em>Wall Street Journal </em>reported that <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hospitals-hide-pricing-data-from-search-results-11616405402">some hospitals hide pricing data from online search results</a>.  </p><p>Listen to <em>Health Affairs</em>' Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott discuss the latest on the Hospital Price Transparency Final Rule and what impacts it may have on hospitals and patients. </p><p><strong>Related Links:</strong></p><ul> <li> <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210311.899634/full/">Low Compliance From Big Hospitals On CMS's Hospital Price Transparency Rule</a> (<em>Health Affairs Blog</em>)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210112.545531/full/">New Year, New CMS Price Transparency Rule For Hospitals</a> (<em>Health Affairs Blog</em>)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hospitals-hide-pricing-data-from-search-results-11616405402">Hospitals Hide Pricing Data From Search Results</a> (<em>Wall Street Journal</em>)</li> <li> <a href="https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/