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CANTON A new hospital transparency rule was supposed to make it easier for patients to find prices for common surgeries and procedures but the task is still practically brain surgery.
More than a year ago, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized policies for its most recent piece of transparency regulations, which took effect on Jan.1.
It requires every hospital in the U.S. there are 6,090, according to the American Hospital Association to provide clear, accessible pricing information online in two ways:
A machine-readable file with all items and services offered.
A consumer-friendly file of 300 shoppable services, procedures and surgeries, typically those scheduled in advance, as well as prices for each; that data is to include how much each insurer pays the hospital, if a contracted rate is in place.
The order directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to come up with the regulations.
Using the premise that transparency encourages choice and competition, the goal was to enable patients to become more active consumers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which already has regulatory authority over hospitals, placed the new rules into effect on Jan. 1.
Those rules require hospitals to make public their standard charges for at least 300 “shoppable services” (70 specified by the agency and 230 others chosen by the hospital). Generally, the list is to include the types of services, procedures and surgeries which can be scheduled in advance.