Downloads
CS/CS/HB 1175 — Transparency in Health Care
by Health and Human Services Committee; Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee; Rep. Sprowls and others (CS/SB 1496 by Appropriations Committee; and Senators Bradley and Gaetz)
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Health Policy Committee (HP)
The bill increases the transparency and availability of health care pricing and quality of service information to enable consumers to make informed choices regarding health care treatment. The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) is required to contract with a vendor to provide a consumer-friendly, Internet-based platform that allows a consumer to research the cost of health care services and procedures. The AHCA is to select the vendor through a competitive procurement process.
Services and procedures will be grouped by a descriptive service bundle to facilitate price comparisons provided in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASC). Quality indicators for services at the facilities will also be made available to the consumer to assist with health care decision making.
Hospitals and ASCs are required to provide access to the searchable service bundles on their website. Consumers will be presented with the estimated average payment received, excluding Medicaid and Medicare, and estimated payment ranges for each service bundle, by facility, facilities within geographic boundaries, and nationally. The facility must disclose that this information is an estimate of costs and that actual costs will be based on services actually provided to the patient. Additionally, the facility must disclose the facility’s financial assistance policies and collection procedures.
The hospital and ASC must notify prospective patients that other health care providers may provide services in the facility and bill separately from the facility. Furthermore, the prospective patient must be informed that these healthcare providers may or may not participate with the same health insurers or health maintenance organizations (HMOs) as the facility. Accordingly, the patient should contact the applicable practitioners to determine the health insurers and HMOs with which the practitioner participates as a network or preferred provider. The facility must provide contact information for the practitioners.
Insurers and HMOs are required to provide on their websites a method for policy holders to estimate their cost-sharing responsibilities by service bundle based on the insured’s policy and known plan usage. These estimates shall include both in-network and out-of-network providers. Insurers and HMOs are also required to provide hyperlinks on their website to the AHCA’s performance outcome and financial data.
Consumers may request personalized good faith estimates of charges for nonemergency medical services from hospitals, ASCs, and health care practitioners relating to medical services provided in the hospital or ASC. These good faith estimates must be provided to the consumer within 7 days after the consumer’s request. The bill provides for a daily fine for non-compliance by facilities and health care practitioners. The personalized estimate must also inform the patient about the health care provider’s financial assistance policies and collection procedures.
A patient may also request an itemized bill or statement from the hospital and ASC after discharge. The requested itemized bill or statement must be provided within 7 days and be specific, written in plain language, and identify all services provided by the facility and any facility fees, as well as rates charged, amounts due, and the payment status. The itemized bill or statement must inform the patient to contact his or her insurer regarding the patient’s share of costs. The facility must provide records to verify the bill or statement within 10 days after a request and respond to questions concerning the statement or bill.
The bill requires health insurers and HMOs that participate in the state group health insurance plan or Medicaid managed care to submit all claims data from Florida policy holders, with certain supplemental plan exceptions, to the vendor selected by the AHCA.
Each diagnostic-imaging center operated by a hospital but not located on the hospital grounds is required to post in the reception area prices charged to uninsured persons for the 50 most frequently provided services. The bill prohibits the AHCA from establishing an all-payor claims database or a comparable database without express legislative authority.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2016.
Vote: Senate 36-0; House 118-0