‘Hospitals Really Didn’t Try To Comply’: Investigation Reveals Georgia Hospitals Are Avoiding Federal Patient Transparency Rule
At the start of 2021, a new federal rule began requiring hospitals to post prices they charge insurance companies and patients who pay out-of-pocket. The idea is more price transparency is better for patients, who will be better able to understand the costs of a hospital service before they receive it.
Health policy advocates note the rule also means more competition between insurance companies, and more accountability for hospitals.
But a rule only works if it is followed. New reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution finds that hospitals across Georgia are not fully complying.
AJC health policy reporter Ariel Hart joined WABE’s health care reporter Sam Whitehead on “All Things Considered” to discuss gaping holes in the data statewide.
“There was a lot that was posted in very bureaucratic ways, that maybe if you’re a hospital administrator that would be easy to find, but for your average person, it was just very complicated,” Hart said.
“One hospital, Memorial in Savannah, did a great job of being clear and obvious … and then you got down to the hospitals that really didn’t even try to comply.”
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