Here are seven hospital and health insurance price transparency headlines Becker's has reported since Aug. 2:
1. Employers push back on hospital prices
U.S. employers are carefully analyzing price data to ensure they get the best health insurance prices for their employees; this is causing tension with some hospitals.
2. CMS' price transparency enforcement 'lukewarm,' Johns Hopkins professor says
CMS needs to get tougher on enforcing its hospital price transparency law, Johns Hopkins University professor of accounting and health policy and management Ge Bai, PhD, told USA Today.
3. 16% of hospitals complying with price transparency rule
U.S. hospitals continue to hide actual prices from consumers nearly 20 months after the Hospital Price Transparency Rule went into effect, according to a report from PatientRightsAdvocate.org.
4. Price transparency rated 'exemplary' at 2 Georgia system hospitals after CMS fine
The first two hospitals fined for price transparency violations now have "exemplary" disclosures, PatientRightsAdvocate.org Cynthia founder Fisher told USA Today. CMS fined two hospitals in the Atlanta-based Northside Hospital for violations in June.
5. New Mexico launching healthcare price transparency database
The New Mexico Department of Health is planning to launch a health insurance claims database that will be fully operational late next year. The all-payer claims database is designed to monitor the growth of costs and make prices charged by providers and insurers across the state more accessible and transparent.
6. Colorado raises stakes for hospitals that don’t comply with price transparency rule
A Colorado law went into effect Aug. 10 that prohibits hospitals from pursuing debt collections against patients if the hospital is not in compliance with federal price transparency laws.
7. Few cancer centers comply with price transparency law, analysis finds
Out of 63 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers in the U.S., only one-third are fully compliant with federal price transparency rules, according to an analysis published in JAMA Surgery.