Bacon's Rebellion

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North Carolina AG takes on Hospitals That Fail to Publish Shoppable Prices

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sherlockj
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by James C. Sherlock

Attorney General Josh Stein of North Carolina, fresh off killing the Sentara-Cone merger, on his very busy day yesterday had an Assistant AG send a letter to North Carolina hospitals.

It demanded that hospitals comply with federal hospital pricing transparency regulations that require that hospitals make publicly available a machine-readable file containing a list of prices for all items and services as well as a consumer-friendly list with prices for shoppable services.

He told them that he looked forward to their cooperation — by the end of the month.

This is the second time today I have wished Virginia had an Attorney General.

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3 responses to “North Carolina AG takes on Hospitals That Fail to Publish Shoppable Prices”

  1. tmtfairfax Avatar
    tmtfairfax

    The decision for us to build a house in suburban Raleigh looks better all the time.

  2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    What good does it do to have a list that shows the cost of an appendectomy to be $5,000 (or whatever), when the actual cost will be whatever was negotiated by one’s insurance company? Furthermore, many of the costs that a patient incurs from a stay at the hospital are not hospital charges per se, but charges by various doctors that are not hospital employees, but contractors. Finally, if I have to go to a hospital, I don’t shop around. When I had a kidney stone, several years, I did not shop around; I went to the nearest one. Even in the case of elective surgery or treatment, I will go to the hospital at which my doctor has privileges. This idea of requiring hospitals to post charges is a distraction from the real issues and will not be of great benefit to consumers.

    1. James C. Sherlock Avatar
      James C. Sherlock

      Dick, the federal regulations require the costs to be broken out by insurer and for the uninsured. It is quite revealing when it is complied with. Enormous differences that affect deductibles and co-pays. See https://www.baconsrebellion.com/anyone-think-they-understand-hospital-pricing/

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