Burgess and Green Legislation Provides Patients Cost Information for Health Care
Posted by Keith Williams on May 18, 2012
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Washington

 Burgess and Green Legislation Provides Patients Cost Information for Health Care   
 
“Patients could review their options with up-front information about the costs of a medical procedure and other expenses in health care services.”

Washington, D.C. —U.S. Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26) and U.S. Congressman Gene Green (TX-29) have introduced H.R. 5800, the Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012.  Their bipartisan bill aims to make health care more affordable by promoting greater transparency about the costs of health care services for patients.

“Patients could review their options with up-front information about the costs of a medical procedure and other expenses in health care services,” Burgess said.  “A patient should be able to know what they are buying and how much they will pay out-of-pocket.  Arming patients with cost information is an important step in improving our country’s health care system with the focus on the patient.”

The Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act directs the states to establish and maintain laws requiring disclosure of information on hospital charges.  Additionally, the bill requires hospitals and health plans to make such information available to the public, and to provide individuals with information about estimated out-of-pocket costs for health care services.

Representatives Burgess and Green requested a General Accountability Office report, which found that cost information is helpful to patients, who often have difficulty accessing reliable and consistent price information.  

Health care costs are increasing at an alarming rate. In 2010, total national health expenditures rose over 3.9 percent – just over double the rate of inflation. Total spending was $2.6 trillion in 2010, or $8,327 per person. Total health care spending represented 17.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. U.S. health care spending is expected to increase at similar levels for the next decade reaching $4.6 trillion in 2020, or 20 percent of GDP.

“Our current health care system needs to be reformed. Unfortunately, with all of the bureaucracy and paperwork, few people including patients and physicians know where money is going. This makes it hard to identify the base problem and begin to help curb increasing health care costs,” said Rep. Green. “This legislation will be a first step in a long-term solution to clear up the confusion, and will let us move towards affordable, quality health care for all Americans.”

The American Hospital Association endorses the Burgess-Green legislation, noting evidence of the ongoing success of states and state hospital associations to collect and disseminate hospital pricing information. Text of the bill is now posted on the Library of Congress legislative website, Thomas .

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Comments
The opinions expressed below are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent those of this office.
  • Steve from Lewisville, TX commented on 5/28/2012
    I agree with the intent of this bill, but would like to see the text. At the moment, it is not posted on Thomas: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112hr5800 Having cost information available to the consumer should help, but I would caution against treating healthcare as a typical market good or service. In so many ways, it doesn't fit that model, since consumers are generally not able to forego treatment, and can't make the same kinds of educated decisions they would with something like a television or plumbing services.
  • Charlie Barrett from Flower Mound commented on 6/22/2012
    I don't think health costs can reasonably be expected to mirror inflation for these reasons: 1. The Federal government's method of computing inflation is a joke - it doesn't take into account increased energy and food cost increases. Hospitals use unbelievable amounts of energy just to keep the lights and air conditioning on. 2. VASTLY improved medical equipment and procedures, resulting from extensive research, much of it privately funded. As a result, we are seeing much better outcomes in many injuries and diseases which used to be a death sentence just a few years ago. 3. The rapidly rising cost of obtaining a medical degree of any type, partially as a result of the free-flowing federal student loan program, even for terrible students, resulting rapid increases in college administration and instructor salaries (there is no such thing as a poorly paid college professor any longer, and his supervisors often earn double that amount)! 4. The current inflation rate is artificially low due to an artificially low Prime Rate of nearly zero. That is not sustainable. 5. The chaos and uncertainty caused by Obamacare, uncertain tax policy, and depressed housing prices due to inability of most homeowners to obtain a mortgage if they have the slightest blotch on their credit rating. None of that is sustainable without causing the recession to deepen and increasing the likehood of debilitating inflation later, which would decimate the value of all cash on hand, including cash held by both hospitals and their patients.
  • Charlie Barrett from Flower Mound commented on 6/22/2012
    I forgot to mention in my previous comment... The most welcome thing the Federal Government can do as far as billing is concerned: Pass a regulation that the hospital bill must be all-inclusive, and any bill received after a hospital stay is non-payable. Way too often, when you go into the hospital you will get dozens of separate bills because the hospitals order dozens of contractors for everything from blood testing to various specialists and even anesthesiologists. As a result, neither the patient nor the insurance companies nor Medicare really knows which contractor bills are legitimate and which are mistaken or outright fraudulent. I would prefer the hospital act as a General Contractor to help weed out fraudulent or erroneous billing by sub-contractors.
  • Dick from The Colony commented on 6/23/2012
    This information is already available to the intelligent consumer. Why more legislation, other to dilute the need for Universal Health Care Servuces. As usual, another wasted effort by DOCTOR DO NOTHING!
  • www.rajakarpet.com from Bandung commented on 10/30/2012
    I agree "provide individuals with information about estimated out-of-pocket costs for health care services."
  • www.healthwonders.com from CA commented on 12/10/2012
    I agree with thats opinions, but the government should develop the hospital system better when rise the fee
  • brown from farmer commented on 1/23/2013
    Thank you for the interesting & Nice information, Great post!!
  • http://www.expressplumbingandgasservices.com.au/ from Gold Coast, Austalia commented on 1/29/2013
    To make health care more affordable in the sense of promoting a more transparent communications in regards to the costs of health care services provided by health care establishments for patients is a very helpful idea. I strongly agree that every single patient must have sufficient knowledge in regards to what they are paying for as there is an alarming situation right now where health care costs are continuously increasing. In short, cost information is also a relevant for the continuity of care of patients and not just the medical prognosis.
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