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6/27/2024
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Leader de la Cruz and Rep. Casimiro’s legislation on hospital pricing transparency becomes new law
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STATE HOUSE – Legislation (2024-S 2078, 2024-H 7880) introduced by Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz and Rep. Julie A. Casimiro that would provide a procedure requiring health care facilities to maintain a searchable price list for all facility items has become a new law.
This legislation is part of the larger Senate HEALTH package rolled out in March. It requires hospitals to publish and maintain a single machine-readable file that contains a list of all standard charges for all facility items or services. Hospitals must also publish and maintain a consumer-friendly list of searchable standard charges for at least 300 shoppable services, including 70 shoppable services identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Each facility of a hospital system must maintain and publish its own list. The list must include a description of the items or services, the gross charge, minimum and maximum negotiated charges, discounted cash price, payor specific negotiated charge and billing code.
For compliance, the Department of Health would monitor and enforce compliance by evaluating complaints, reviewing any analysis conducted on compliance, auditing the websites of hospitals and confirming compliance with them.
“Important benefits for consumers include up-front access to price information for patients so they can make informed healthcare decisions, shop for care based on procedure prices at different hospitals near them, and avoid unexpectedly high bills in the mail,” said Leader de la Cruz (R-Dist. 23, North Smithfield, Burrillville, Glocester). “Additionally, it encourages greater hospital compliance with transparency requirements and transparent prices mean expanded competition and lower prices.”
“With health care costs rising at an alarming rate, it is vital that we give consumers the complete picture of what their hospital visit will cost them. This will ensure our residents can make knowledgeable decisions about their health care needs while also protecting them from surprising or hidden costs,” said Representative Casimiro (D-Dist. 31, North Kingstown, Exeter).
For more information, contact:
Andrew Caruolo, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-6124
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