HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1573
   
1 CHAMBER ACTION
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Senate House
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12          Representatives Farkas and Harrell offered the following:
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14          Amendment (with directory and title amendments)
15          Remove line(s) 70-87, and insert:
16          (7)(a) Each licensed facility not operated by the state
17    shall make available to the public on its Internet website or by
18    other electronic means a list of charges for the top 20 percent
19    of the most frequently used charge items in each hospital’s
20    charge master for both inpatient and outpatient services. The
21    list shall be updated monthly. The facility shall place a
22    notice in the reception areas that such information is available
23    electronically and the website address and provide an electronic
24    link to the agency’s website to determine the average charge per
25    diagnosis-related groups that is available.
26          (b) A health care facility shall, upon request, furnish a
27    patient, prior to provision of medical services, a reasonable
28    estimate of charges for such services. Such estimate shall not
29    preclude the health care provider or health care facility from
30    exceeding the estimate or making additional charges based on
31    changes in the patient’s condition or treatment needs.
32          (c) A licensed facility not operated by the state shall
33    make available to a patient, or a payor acting on behalf of the
34    patient, the records that are necessary to verify the accuracy
35    of the patient’s bill or payor’s claim related to such patient’s
36    bill within a reasonable time after a request. The verification
37    information must be made available in the facility’s offices.
38    Such records shall be available to the patient or payor prior to
39    and after payment of the bill or claim. The facility may not
40    charge the patient or payor for making such verification records
41    available, except the facility may charge its usual charge for
42    providing copies of records as specified in s. 395.3025.
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44    ============= D I R E C T O R Y A M E N D M E N T =============
45          Remove line(s) 66, and insert:
46          Section 1. Subsection (7) is added to section
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48    ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T =================
49          Remove lines 3-7, and insert:
50          requiring health care providers and facilities to provide
51    prospective patients with reasonable estimates of
52    prospective charges; requiring certain licensed facilities
53    to make available to payors certain records; providing that
54    the facility may not charge for making records available
55    but may charge a specified amount for providing copies;
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