Recent data from PatientRightsAdvocate.org shows that none of Nebraska's hospitals comply with the federal hospital pricing transparency rule. The law requires hospitals to provide patients with an itemize list of each charge on their bill.
Without this information, PRA’s founder and chairman Cynthia Fisher said it can be difficult for patients to see other pricing options for the same procedure and know exactly what they’re being charged for.
“If you need a colonoscopy, for instance, you can see some of the plans will have colonoscopies listed at around $800 and others up to $12,000 in the same hospital for a colonoscopy, no complications,” Fisher said. “When you purchase care, if you believe you're paying more than what is a fair market profitable price, you can negotiate with the hospital and refuse to overpay.”
In February, PRA found that 63% of Nebraska hospitals were compliant with the transparency law. Since then, every Nebraska hospital has fallen out of compliance, according to PRA’s most recent report.
Many hospitals are now providing estimated prices of their services or providing a formula for patients to estimate what their bill could look like, Fisher said.
“That's harming Nebraskans across the state, mitigating their access to actually knowing what their prices would be up front from hospitals and whether or not they've been overcharged,” Fisher said. “We have this right by law, and any obfuscation or hiding of these prices, or putting into formulas or only giving an estimate with no accountability that harms American families budgets.”
She said fear of overpaying could also prevent people from going to preventative care appointments, such as mammograms.
PRA plans to advocate in Washington, D.C. to restore a strict enforcement of the price transparency law, according to Fisher.
“Price transparency in healthcare, we know, protects patients from overcharged medical bills,” Fisher said. “Knowing everything up front of what to expect and preventing this egregious gouging and up coding overcharging is necessary to put the trends in reverse and let people lower their own costs of care.”