Posted on 08/07/2018 2:21:58 AM PDT by markomalley
Hospitals will be required to post online a list of their standard charges under a rule finalized Thursday by the Trump administration.
While hospitals are already required to make this information public on request, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said the new rule would require the info be posted online to "encourage price transparency" and improve "public accessibility."
Starting Jan. 1, hospitals will be required to update the information annually.
The CMS said it is also considering how to "allow consumers to more easily access relevant healthcare data and compare providers."
Increasing price transparency has been a priority for the administration as a way to drive down health-care costs.
"This is a small step towards providing our beneficiaries with price transparency, but our work in this area is only just beginning," CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a speech last month. "Price transparency is core to patient empowerment and making sure American patients have the tools they need so they can make the best decisions for them and their families."
“I don’t know who your cardiologist is...but six hundred bucks is pretty shy.”
that’s not what he billed, but what he actually got paid ...
Many specialist will run screaming from Medicare only. I know Tricare is the retirement plan, but is that akin to a civilian “supplemental” plan?
Thanks
Thanks - been on TriCare and now TriCare for Life so, unless I peruse any billing statements, I’m often unaware of the actual cost of something......ignorance can be bliss.
I CAN tell you that we base out performance on the Medicare cost reimbursement for every stay. We also base an equal proportion of our performance on the Medicare survey scores—so the combination actually means we have to find a way to do it cheaper, and faster—but in such a way that the patient sSTILL gives us a good rating. So we are nice and competent.. but we are running like hell behind the scenes.
Our margin for the quarter was tiny.
And Y’all are doing a great job - my wife and I know how fortunate we are to have the coverage/care we enjoy.
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