News Report | August 18, 2019
Medicare To Require Hospitals To Post Prices Online For 300 ‘Shoppable’ Services
The Medicare proposed rule for the 2020 hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) requires hospitals to post prices online for 300 “shoppable” services. The hospitals will display the payer-specific negotiated charge for 70 services specified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and 230 others selected by the hospital. The rates must be displayed in a machine-readable, searchable, consumer-friendly format, and updated annually. Hospitals that fail to publish the prices could incur fines of up to $300 per day. Penalties would be assessed no earlier than 2021.
A “shoppable” item or service is one that . . .