Hospitals push back on Nevada price transparency proposal
LEGISLATURE
SUN FILE (2020) Hospital industry lobbyists, including one for Sunrise Hospital , spoke out this week against Assembly Bill 343, which would require hospitals in Nevada to adhere to federal pricing transparency rules. The industry opposes the bill, in part, because of its enforcement mechanism: Hospitals would be prohibited from collecting medical debt until they achieve compliance.
Editor’s note: Este artículo está traducido al español en la página 8.
Health industry lobbyists at the Nevada Legislature took turns testifying late Tuesday before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee about the pitfalls of a proposed bill that would require hospitals to comply with federal price transparency regulations.
Some of their concerns center on Assembly Bill 343’s enforcement mechanism: Hospitals would be prohibited from collecting medical debt until they achieve compliance. This poses a substantial challenge for approximately the two-thirds of Nevada’s hospitals that aren’t fully adhering to the regulations, according to transparency advocacy group Patient Rights Advocate.
The figure includes some of the hospitals with lobbyists who opposed the proposal — like Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas and Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno — both of which publish data online but not in the correct format, according to the advocacy group.
The Assembly passed AB 343 on April 22 in a mostly party-line vote, 28-14. Assemblymember Jill Dickman, R-Sparks, was the lone Republican breaking ranks to vote for approval.
“A majority of patients in our state do not have access to the clear upfront pricing information that federal law requires,”
Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the bill, testified to the Senate committee.
“We cannot allow hospitals to continue operating under a system that leaves consumers guessing about what their care will cost.”
The Nevada Hospital Association pushed back against the dataset that Yeager cited Tuesday, pointing to an article from the Healthcare Financial Management Association that called the Patient Rights Advocate report “irresponsible.”
It pointed to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which found that 70% of the 600 hospitals it surveyed in 2022 were compliant with federal regulations.
During the meeting, Yeager explained that the bill merely codifies federal law by requiring annual reporting from hospitals.
Industry representatives contend the proposal deviates from federal requirements.
The legislation expands beyond federal standards by mandating hospitals to disclose third-party contracts and adds on heightened monetary penalties for noncompliance, said Jesse Wadhams with the Nevada Hospital Association. Wadhams further noted that the proposed legislation conflicted with existing billing regulations.
Wadhams said the association had proposed amendments to make Yeager’s bill more like federal regulations.
“We are not opposed to transparency,” said Connor Cain, who represents Sunrise Hospital. “Alignment with the existing federal requirements is imperative, as any deviations can quickly multiply the operational burden on hospitals with no additional benefit to patients.”
A representative for the Dignity Health system, which is in full compliance, said the same.
The bill also enables people to send complaints about prices not matching what’s been posted online with the state attorney general and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The attorney general can then take civil action against the hospital on the grounds that it’s a deceptive trade practice.
An earlier version of the bill allowed individuals to sue on their own, but that was taken out “in negotiations with some of those who were in opposition to the bill in the Assembly,” Yeager said.
The federal push for hospital pricing transparency started during President Donald Trump’s first term, something Yeager made sure to mention during Tuesday’s presentation.
In 2019, Trump issued an executive order establishing that hospitals display charges in an “easy-to-understand, consumer-friendly and machine-readable format.”
Trump announced another executive order in February to create a “radical” level of price transparency by having his secretaries more heavily enforce the requirements.
Fully adhering to his first-term executive order “could deliver savings of $80 billion for consumers, employers and insurers by 2025,” according to the White House.
“The American people deserve better,”
Trump wrote in the February executive order. “Making America healthy again will require empowering individuals with the best information possible to inform their life and health care choices.”
To prove his point, Yeager brought along two former state representatives from Colorado who worked on similar legislation: Colorado Senate President Steve Fenberg and state Rep. Patrick Neville, a Democrat and Republican, respectively.
Before Colorado’s version of the bill went into effect in 2022, Fenberg said compliance was in line with the rest of the country, hovering above 20%.
But after, in conjunction with an educational campaign, compliance “shot up almost immediately to more than 70%,”
Fenberg said.
“This bill is about fairness, accountability and empowering patients to make informed choices about their health care,”
Yeager said Tuesday. “Every business in America is required to disclose pricing up front. Hospitals should not be the exception.” kyle.chouinard@gmgvegas.com / 702- 990-8923 / @Kyle_Chouinard
Health industry lobbyists at the Nevada Legislature took turns testifying late Tuesday before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee about the pitfalls of a proposed bill that would require hospitals to comply with federal price transparency regulations.
Some of their concerns center on Assembly Bill 343’s enforcement mechanism: Hospitals would be prohibited from collecting medical debt until they achieve compliance. This poses a substantial challenge for approximately the two-thirds of Nevada’s hospitals that aren’t fully adhering to the regulations, according to transparency advocacy group Patient Rights Advocate.
The figure includes some of the hospitals with lobbyists who opposed the proposal — like Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas and Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno — both of which publish data online but not in the correct format, according to the advocacy group.
The Assembly passed AB 343 on April 22 in a mostly party-line vote, 28-14. Assemblymember Jill Dickman, R-Sparks, was the lone Republican breaking ranks to vote for approval.
“A majority of patients in our state do not have access to the clear upfront pricing information that federal law requires,”
Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the bill, testified to the Senate committee.
“We cannot allow hospitals to continue operating under a system that leaves consumers guessing about what their care will cost.”
The Nevada Hospital Association pushed back against the dataset that Yeager cited Tuesday, pointing to an article from the Healthcare Financial Management Association that called the Patient Rights Advocate report “irresponsible.”
It pointed to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which found that 70% of the 600 hospitals it surveyed in 2022 were compliant with federal regulations.
During the meeting, Yeager explained that the bill merely codifies federal law by requiring annual reporting from hospitals.
Industry representatives contend the proposal deviates from federal requirements.
The legislation expands beyond federal standards by mandating hospitals to disclose third-party contracts and adds on heightened monetary penalties for noncompliance, said Jesse Wadhams with the Nevada Hospital Association. Wadhams further noted that the proposed legislation conflicted with existing billing regulations.
Wadhams said the association had proposed amendments to make Yeager’s bill more like federal regulations.
“We are not opposed to transparency,” said Connor Cain, who represents Sunrise Hospital. “Alignment with the existing federal requirements is imperative, as any deviations can quickly multiply the operational burden on hospitals with no additional benefit to patients.”
A representative for the Dignity Health system, which is in full compliance, said the same.
The bill also enables people to send complaints about prices not matching what’s been posted online with the state attorney general and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The attorney general can then take civil action against the hospital on the grounds that it’s a deceptive trade practice.
An earlier version of the bill allowed individuals to sue on their own, but that was taken out “in negotiations with some of those who were in opposition to the bill in the Assembly,” Yeager said.
The federal push for hospital pricing transparency started during President Donald Trump’s first term, something Yeager made sure to mention during Tuesday’s presentation.
In 2019, Trump issued an executive order establishing that hospitals display charges in an “easy-to-understand, consumer-friendly and machine-readable format.”
Trump announced another executive order in February to create a “radical” level of price transparency by having his secretaries more heavily enforce the requirements.
Fully adhering to his first-term executive order “could deliver savings of $80 billion for consumers, employers and insurers by 2025,” according to the White House.
“The American people deserve better,”
Trump wrote in the February executive order. “Making America healthy again will require empowering individuals with the best information possible to inform their life and health care choices.”
To prove his point, Yeager brought along two former state representatives from Colorado who worked on similar legislation: Colorado Senate President Steve Fenberg and state Rep. Patrick Neville, a Democrat and Republican, respectively.
Before Colorado’s version of the bill went into effect in 2022, Fenberg said compliance was in line with the rest of the country, hovering above 20%.
But after, in conjunction with an educational campaign, compliance “shot up almost immediately to more than 70%,”
Fenberg said.
“This bill is about fairness, accountability and empowering patients to make informed choices about their health care,”
Yeager said Tuesday. “Every business in America is required to disclose pricing up front. Hospitals should not be the exception.” kyle.chouinard@gmgvegas.com / 702- 990-8923 / @Kyle_Chouinard