Today, Cynthia A. Fisher, Founder and Chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org, released the following statement following oral arguments in American Hospital Association v. PatientRightsAdvocate.org.
“The American Hospital Association today argued in federal court that American citizens should have to pay a tax to a private lobbying organization in order to know their legal obligations. We do not agree with that," stated Cynthia A. Fisher, Founder & Chair of PatientRightsAdvocate.org. "Copyright protection does not extend to the power to speak with the force of law. When federal and state governments require certain standards to be followed, the public has a right to know what those say without having to go through an expensive paywall.”
Additional Background:
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is suing PatientRightsAdvocate.org (PRA), a nonprofit fighting for healthcare price transparency, over its efforts to make a critical hospital billing manual publicly accessible. The manual contains standardized billing codes and procedures that hospitals and insurers are required to use when processing medical claims.