A new report finds that few Montana hospitals are complying with a federal rule to publicly post prices for common procedures.
In 2021, the Trump administration issued a rule that said hospitals must disclose prices for 300 of the most common procedures. The idea is to allow patients to shop around for care, much like they do for groceries.
Patient Rights Advocate is a non-profit focused on price transparency in health care. Its recent report found 12% of Montana hospitals are fully compliant with the federal rule.
Non-compliant hospitals are still posting prices, but Patient Rights says they don’t clearly outline prices for specific insurance plans, making them hard to decipher how much you can expect to pay.
Patient Rights founder Cynthia Fisher says the Biden administration has failed to enforce the rule. She says prices can vary by thousands of dollars between hospitals, and patients can wind up with surprise bills.
She says it would be like gas stations hiding their prices until after you fill up.
“If you would go to the gas station across the street, can you imagine having to pay 30 times more for a gallon of gas?”
She hopes the incoming Trump administration will begin enforcing the rule and force hospitals to be more competitive, which could lower prices for health care.
