PatientRightsAdvocate.org (PRA) celebrated today’s signing of Senate Bill 252 by Colorado Governor Jared Polis at a public ceremony in Denver. The bipartisan legislation requires Colorado hospitals to comply with federal price transparency rules by posting all of their prices upfront and in full for the public to see. According to PRA’s most recent Hospital Price Transparency Compliance Report, 100 percent of hospitals reviewed in Colorado are failing to fully comply with the rules and denying patients their right to know the complete and accurate price of their services.

On May 24, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to advance the PATIENT Act (HR 3561), which promotes greater price transparency in healthcare by requiring hospitals to publicly post their prices in a consumer-friendly format. The legislation increases competition by enabling consumers to compare prices and shop for affordable healthcare and increases penalties for hospitals who are not in compliance with the Hospital Price Transparency Rule.

On May 7, 2023, the Colorado General Assembly passed SB252, which requires Colorado hospitals to comply with federal price transparency rules and post all of their prices upfront and in full for the public to see. The legislation would make publicly visible each hospital's Medicare reimbursement rates, as well as require the State’s Department of Health Care and Policy and Financing to conduct a performance assessment for each hospital to determine the hospital's adherence to federal transparency rules and publish the results on its website.

A new poll by SocialSphere, run by Harvard University pollster John Della Volpe, finds that a bipartisan supermajority of nearly 90% of Americans support healthcare price transparency. Specifically, 88% of Americans support hospital price transparency, and 89% support systemwide price transparency among all healthcare institutions, including hospitals, insurers, and doctors. The polling reveals that the overwhelming majority of Americans from all backgrounds support this healthcare policy solution.

Patients from across the country share their untold stories, emphasizing how price transparency can help Americans avoid overwhelming medical debt

Today, February 10, 2023, the Commonwealth Court ruled that four Tower Health hospitals are not eligible for property tax exemptions.

Today, PRA sent a letter to President Biden to express our disappointment and grave concerns regarding the recent announcement that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will not enforce a critical provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 requiring co-providers and co-facilities to give uninsured, self-pay individuals advance good faith estimates of the price of their care.

The Dallas Morning News ran an op-ed written by Cynthia Fisher, founder and chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org calling for the new Congress to come together and achieve an earlier bipartisan victory by addressing one of the most pressing issues facing all Americans: the healthcare cost crisis.

Robust hospital price transparency can put downward pressure on overall inflation by addressing its largest and longest-running source: outrageous healthcare costs.

The New York Times recently published an investigation revealing the Bon Secours hospital system is profiting off its poor patients by hollowing out Richmond Community Hospital, which primarily serves the indigent, and using this hospital to bolster its systemwide 340B revenues. PRA finds that Bon Secours is also profiteering off all its healthcare consumers, including employers and unions, by hiding its actual prices.

Cynthia Fisher, PatientRightsAdvocate.org founder and chairman, joined Kevin Lyons, the director of Member Benefits at the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, and Christin Deacon, the former director of Health Benefits Operations and Policy and Planning for New Jersey, on an op-ed calling for the need for price transparency in New Jersey after the State Health Benefits Commission voted to raise health premiums for hundreds of thousands of state and local workers by approximately 20%.

PRA and Families USA filed an amicus brief in support of the Massachusetts Laborers’ Union’s appeal against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. The brief explains how BCBS had a fiduciary duty when it managed the health insurance plan assets of the Massachusetts Laborers’ Fund.

PRA and Families USA submitted public comments on the proposed 2023 CMS OPPS rule. CMS used the OPPS rule to promulgate the Hospital Price Transparency Rule, and has the opportunity to improve upon it this year through this Proposed Rule.

Most Americans receive healthcare benefits though their employer as the cost of healthcare continues to skyrocket. In an op-ed published by the Boston Business Journal, Cynthia Fisher, PRA founder and chairmen, explains how employers can take an active role in demanding healthcare price transparency.

Today, PatientRightsAdvocate.org released a Third Semi-Annual Hospital Price Transparency Report Supplemental Assessment on two Pennsylvania hospitals.

The semi-annual report issued by PatientRightsAdvocate.org is a detailed look at hospital compliance with price transparency measures required by law.

As health care costs continue to be a bipartisan issue, with nearly 90 percent of Americans supporting health care price transparency, Cynthia Fisher, PRA founder and chair, penned an op-ed explaining why Congress needs to codify the 2021 price transparency law.