Hospitals will have to disclose the discounts they are negotiating with insurance companies, enabling patients to seek lower rates for a range of medical services, the Trump administration announced this week. These negotiations have always been secret with hospitals and insurers claiming they were proprietary information. The hospital industry is expected to challenge the rule in court. (The New York Times, July 29, 2019, by Reed Abelson and Abby Goodnough)
The new rule would require hospitals to reveal the amounts they charge for services that are “shoppable,” that is, services such as a hip replacement that can be scheduled in advance. (Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 29, 2019, by Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post)