The
Senate Health Policy Committee reported legislation this Wednesday that would
require hospitals to disclose, whether in writing or on their website, what’s
known as their charge master – a list of prices for the various services and
goods offered by the hospital.
Senate
Bill 627 is sponsored by Senator Joe Hune (R-Whitmore Lake) and passed from
the Senate Health Policy Committee 7-1 with Senator Jim Ananich (D-Flint)
voting no.
Representatives
from the hospital community stated that hospitals will disclose the information
if required by the state through the proposal; however, the more valuable
information to consumers would be the average charge by procedure for various
hospitals. The federal government requires the charge master be developed and
annually updated, however, hospitals are moving to value-based pricing where
prices are based on overall procedures rather than a sum of individually priced
items.