Hospital Rule

In a move towards price transparency, a new Federal Rule took effect on the 1st of this year requiring hospitals to post their public price lists online. These prices must be in a format that can be downloaded to computers and must be updated every year. The changes also apply to rehabilitation facilities, psychiatric hospitals and critical access hospitals.

There's some concern that the price lists could cause confusion for some patients, as the hospital's website may not match those paid by their insurance provider, or Medicare. With Medicare, the government has set a price it will pay for procedures. If a patient reads the posted prices without understanding their coverage, they may forgo needed care.

As Medicare patients, the thing to keep in mind is that these lists are the total costs of services before Medicare offsets, not necessarily the cost you will have to pay out-of-pocket.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day and as always, do something nice for someone just because.

All the best,

Randall J. Lawson

Owner/Agent

The HgO Group

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