A federal law is mandating hospitals post their list of prices starting on January 1, 2019. We spoke to both CHI St. Alexius in Bismarck and Sanford Health in Bismarck about the law.
CHI St. Alexus said in a statement:
“In FY 2015 IPPS/LTCH proposed rule (79 FR 28169) and final rule (79 FR 50146), CMS discussed and then implemented Section 2718(e) of the Public Health Service Act, which was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act. The rule aimed to improve the transparency of hospital charges by requiring hospitals to either post standard charges online. CHI St Alexius Health has posted a cost estimator tool on our website for all patients to view.
We feel that patients should have access to all the information necessary to make the best care decisions – and are committed to improving access to information regarding the price of care and specifically what the patient will pay out-of-pocket.
- Our cost estimator tool provides patients with information that:
- Is easy to access, understand and use;
- Creates common definitions and language describing hospital price information for consumers;
- Explains how and why the price of patient care can vary;
- Encourages patients to consider price information as just one factor, along with quality and safety, when making decisions about hospitals and health plans; and
- Directs patients to more information about financial assistance with their hospital care.”
They also provided link to the website:
KFYR TV
Andrew Horn Reporting