A Bad Day for Transparency
In Arizona…Nancy Barto (R.), who chairs the senate’s Health Care and Medical Liability Reform Committee, sponsored a bill, SB 1384, [that] would require health care facilities to “make available to the public on request in a single document the direct pay price for at least the fifty most used diagnosis-related group codes…and at least the fifty most used outpatient service codes…for the facility.” Doctors would be similarly required to publish the direct-pay prices for their 25 most common services…
Sen. Barto’s bill passed the Arizona Senate, but it died in March in the state’s House of Representatives, where Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee refused to send the bill to the full House for a vote…the state’s Democrats were nearly uniformly opposed to the measure, as well.
Republican governor Jan Brewer apparently also opposed the measure. See full Avik Roy post.
This seems unnerving.
I wonder where McCain stands on this.
Booooooooo.
As an Arizonan, I’m torn on this issue.
I don’t necessarily agree with forcing an institution to disclose that sort of business information. On the other hand, I think if more people saw what prices really were they would support changing the current medical insurance system.
It’s a tough call
This issue illustrates the power of lobbyists in Washington.
As a former un-paid registered lobbyist in AZ I can tell you that the largest body of lobbyists at the capitol during session are from the insurance industry. No one comes close to their representation. United Healthcare has ten alone. Unless the major carriers agree to the bill it will never make it, regardless of whether it’s the right thing to do for consumers!!
This is a tough issue. As Alex pointed out, private business should have the right to free speech (or the decision not to speak) as they see fit. On the other hand, we limit the ability of private business to speak to each other and collude on prices. We do this because price collusion is anti-competitive. The dilemma is: how do we regulate private businesses when doing nothing (i.e. not disclosing prices) is anti-competitive? Another factor: does the fact that list prices are often three or four times negotiated price make a difference?
It is impossible to mandate transparency. Even if hospitals and doctors listed their chargemaster, it would mean little to the average consumer. Yet, policy makers must start somewhere. Transparency is something that retailers do only because they have to in order to compete for customers. Until patients control more of their own health care dollars, doctors and hospitals will have little incentive to disclose prices and certainly won’t compete on price.
You “control more of their (your) own health care dollars” when you know where they’re going, not where they end up!!
Devon- agree with the ‘top line’ concern re: intrusion… but, remember, that nearly all other businesses are subject to the simple consumer protection laws that require the price of products to be clearly marked to prevent fraud…
Please note that the bill had nothing to do with the ‘chargemaster’ rates — they are generally worthless (unless you are uninsured or are an auto insurance company or truly 3rd party paying)…
The bill says clearly ‘direct pay price’ and DOES NOT impact the ability to charge 3rd party payers off the chargemaster.