COLUMBUS, Ohio — A trip to the hospital can be very expensive. A bill in the Ohio Legislature aims to make sure you know how much it will cost you. The Ohio Senate passed a hospital price transparency bill Wednesday afternoon.
The bill aims to help patients find out in an easy way what they will pay when they have to go the hospital.
House Bill 49 will require hospitals to comply with the federal Hospital Price Transparency rule enacted in 2021.
It requires hospitals to publish a consumer-friendly list of charges for hospital services. They can meet that requirement if they use an accurate price estimator tool.
It also allows patients to file complaints to the Ohio Department of Health for violations.
If a violation is found, the state would impose penalties matching the federal penalties.
'While it is incredibly important to ensure patients have access to accurate information, it is also important to ensure that Ohio does not have a more complex bureaucracy than the federal government, and that our state's economic environment is not hostile to businesses," said State Senator George Lang (R - West Chester)
The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 27-6. Because senators made changes to this House bill, it must go back to the House to be reconciled.
The Ohio Hospital Association said that hospitals and health systems are working to comply with both state and federal price transparency policies.
See the OHA and Ohio Children's Hospital Association's joint testimony on the bill below:
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