The federal government will not modify regulations that dictate how hospitals publish their prices for consumers, ignoring pleas from patient advocates who have said hospitals still are not fully complying with the 3-year-old law.
The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed an annual rule that sets payment rates for hospitals. This document is where the government has in the past rolled out changes to the so-called hospital price transparency rule, but the Biden administration did not address the issue in this edition. The rule will increase spending in hospital outpatient departments by an estimated $5.2 billion in 2025, to a total of $88.2 billion.
In May and June, federal health officials met with representatives for PatientRightsAdvocate.org and Power to the Patients, according to government meeting records. Those two groups have excoriated hospitals’ high prices and profits and lobbied aggressively to ensure hospitals are held accountable for publishing pricing information. Since 2021, hospitals have been required to post the prices they have negotiated with all health insurance companies, as well as their cash prices.
