Less than 10 percent of Americans know hospitals are required to disclose their prices online, according to research released June 28 by the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
The CMS price disclosure rule, which took effect Jan. 1, aims to save Americans money by allowing them to price shop for healthcare services. It requires hospitals to post a machine-readable file with the negotiated rates for all items and services and display the prices of 300 shoppable services in a consumer-friendly format.
Researchers surveyed Americans to see if they were aware of the rule, and found that only 9 percent of people ages 18-64 knew hospitals were required to disclose their prices online. This number rose slightly, to 10 percent, for people ages 65 and older.
When asked if they or a family member have searched online for a hospital service's price in the past six months, 23 percent of respondents ages 18-29 said yes, 16 percent of respondents ages 30-49 said yes, 10 percent of respondents ages 50-64 said yes, and 9 percent of respondents ages 65 and older said yes.