• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Store
  • ION Awards
  • Podcasts
  • Full Measure
    • Full Measure Cover Stories
  • Donate
  • Bestseller "Slanted"

Sharyl Attkisson

Untouchable Subjects. Fearless, Nonpartisan Reporting.

  • US
  • World
  • Business
  • Health
    • Vaccine, Medical links
    • Omicron Lab Origin
    • Covid-19 Origins
    • Covid-19 Natural Immunity
    • Covid-19 Vaccine Concerns Summary
    • Covid-19 Vaccine: 80 Common Adverse Events
  • The Censored
  • Special Investigations
    • Attkisson v. DOJ
    • Media Mistakes, Biden Era
    • Media Mistakes on Trump
    • Other investigations
      • Benghazi
      • "Collusion v. Trump" TL
      • Election 2020
      • Fake News
      • Fast & Furious
      • Obamacare
      • Obama Surveillance TL
      • Other investigations
      • Ukraine 'Sabotage' of Trump TL

WATCH: Little known, new pricing rules for hospitals

Dated: February 23, 2021 by Sharyl Attkisson 6 Comments

      

The following is a transcript of a report from "Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson." Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

A groundbreaking new rule you might not have heard about could save you thousands of dollars. For the first time, America's hospitals are required to give upfront pricing on medical procedures so you can shop around. It's the result of a June 2019 Executive Order from President Trump. It took effect January first after surviving legal challenges from U.S. hospitals. Cynthia Fisher of patientrightsadvocate.org helped push the big change that has bipartisan support.

Cynthia Fisher: It was very difficult because hospitals and insurance companies and the many middle players had kept patients blind to know prices. And then we were blindsided by outrageous medical bills and, oftentimes, price gouged, and then expected to pay with a blank check whatever the hospitals chose to charge us. And now that is game over for being kept in the dark.

Sharyl: Do you know how this works in practice? So as of now, if somebody needs a medical procedure done at a hospital, do they call and ask, do they go online?

Cynthia Fisher: Yes. So, the rules, and by law, the hospitals are to post their prices, the discounted cash prices and the negotiated rates for our care, online, easily accessible for any consumer. And we have the right to know these discounted cash prices, which in general, are nearly 40% lower oftentimes than the negotiated rate

Sharyl: For the insurance companies?

Cynthia Fisher: For the insurance companies. And knowing these charges will drive down the cost of care and coverage because it invokes competition and the consumer being aware of competition.

Sharyl: Can prices vary dramatically from one hospital to the next for the same procedure?

Cynthia Fisher: Absolutely. In fact, what also prompted this whole change was innovative surgical centers like OSS Surgical in York, Pennsylvania. I'll give you a great example. They post their prices online. And employers, like Stauffers Grocery, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania had incentivized their employees by steering them to centers such as OSS where a knee replacement, one of their employees shared with us that her knee replacement was $15,000 posted online. Their employer gave her a $2,000 bonus for getting that knee replacement there rather than in the opaque hospital system where, coincidentally, her husband had a knee replacement the same year. And his, at the opaque hospital system that didn't show its price, was $75,000. So, look at the difference, a $15,000 knee replacement versus a $75,000 knee replacement. And knowing that upfront, that employee, that worker saved her own funds as well as for her company and fellow employees.

And a woman in Georgia actually shopped online with one of the price transparent surgical centers at Oklahoma Surgical and saw that the procedure that she was quoted in her Atlanta, Georgia hospital for an estimate of around $40,000 could be an actual price at Oklahoma Surgical for 3,600. Rather than flying to Oklahoma for that surgery, she actually negotiated with her hospital and they matched the price, and she ended up getting it for 3,600.

Cynthia Fisher: So, this huge win of healthcare price transparency, knowing the real prices, accurate prices, before we get care will be something that is there for what 90% of Americans surveyed have wanted all along. To know prices from both hospitals and insurers so that they can save to reduce their costs of their care and coverage.

Sharyl (on camera): Thereโ€™s more. Soon, insurance companies will have to disclose the secretive rates theyโ€™ve negotiated with doctors and hospitals. Insurers have fought that rule saying it will cost millions to provide the data.

http://fullmeasure.news/news/one-on-one-interviews/hospital-pricing


      
[the_ad id="17661"]

About Sharyl Attkisson

Emmy-Award Winning Investigative Journalist, New York Times Best Selling Author, Host of Sinclair's Full Measure

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer DeLugach says

    February 23, 2021 at 10:54 am

    This is key to improving healthcare and controlling costs. I wonder if outpatient surgery centers are bound by the same law. I'm having trouble getting this type of information.

    Reply
  2. Chris Waddell says

    February 23, 2021 at 12:37 pm

    Great article. I hope the Biden admin does not revoke the order like they did with insulin prices!

    Reply
  3. Glenn says

    February 23, 2021 at 2:04 pm

    Swedish American Hospital in Rockford Illinois actually has a menu of services and their prices posted on the wall of the admissions office. I couldnโ€™t believe it!

    Reply
  4. Khiow Hui says

    February 23, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    In Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, private hospital and general hospital will list their prices at the admission board. At the same time, when you reserve your appointment, a complete services packages and itemize prices will give it out. United States Health Networks, Medical Hospital Institutions, Pharmaceutical Institutions and the Insurance companies will keep prices from the patients!!!

    Reply
  5. Peter G says

    February 23, 2021 at 8:14 pm

    Good report Sharyl

    Reply
  6. PSpagnuolo says

    February 24, 2021 at 11:23 am

    Glad to see a report about this. I believe that it could eventually have massive implications for the entire healthcare industry. It's obvious that many, who stand to profit, have worked together to keep as much information as obscure as possible for decades, and ultimately making patients victims. It should logically start to bring insurance costs down too

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Coming Soon

The Bad Shirts: High-Quality, Wearable Humor

The Sharyl Attkisson Store

Buy Great, Original Products & Support Independent Journalism

Subscribe

Get the Latest Stories Straight to Your Inbox

SUBSCRIBE TO SHARYL’S RUMBLE CHANNEL


Follow Sharyl Attkisson

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube



Footer

Pages

  • Home
  • About
  • Podcast
  • Support
  • Contact

Sitemap

2ndary Pages

  • Full Measure Stations
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Newsletter
  • Returns & Refunds Policy

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS

  • Attkisson v. DOJ/FBI
  • Benghazi
  • Election 2020
  • Fake News
  • Fast & Furious
  • Obamacare

Copyright © 2023 ยท Log in