Most local hospitals are not complying with new laws requiring price transparency; how are yours doing?

More than 94% of hospitals surveyed in the Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania have not complied with a federal rule requiring transparency in pricing, even though the rule has been in effect for nearly a year. That's according to a nationwide survey of 500 hospitals by PatientRightsAdvocate.org and an investigation by The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Leif Greiss reports. The project provides an excellent template for replicating such an investigation in your area.

The rule, enacted under the authority of the Affordable Care Act, requires hospitals to post on their websites a list of standard charges for all services, as well as negotiated rates with insurers, among other things, Greiss reports. But two Lehigh Valley hospitals, for example, instead provide a price estimate tool on their patient portal apps, and users must provide personal information including their full name and insurance number to access those estimates. Users must fill out a request form and wait for a quote from the billing department if their insurer is not listed on the website. That could force them to wait for hours or days while suffering a medical issue, and the quote is still only an estimate.

"Cynthia Fisher, founder and chairperson of PatientRightsAdvocate.org, said unlike consumers in most other industries, patients have historically been left in the dark when it comes to the cost of care until after services are rendered, something that wouldn’t happen when booking a hotel or shopping at the grocery store," Greiss reports. "However, she said the point of the Hospital Price Transparency rule is to allow patients to know what they would pay ahead of time based on the hospital and insurance provider, opening a new door for competition among hospitals and insurance providers."