Ohio Senate passes bill to allow patients to learn hospital costs in advance

Ohioans would be able to learn the bottom-line cost of their scheduled hospital care — and their out-of-pocket share of the bill — in advance under a bill passed unanimously by the Ohio Senate on Wednesday.
Senate Bill 97, sponsored by Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, would require hospitals to provide a “reasonable, good faith” cost estimate, or price range, of scheduled services at the advance request of patients beginning July 1, 2021.
The information must include an estimate of out-of-pocket costs and whether other costs, such as physician or anesthesiology services, will be billed separately. Hospitals also must warn patients if they are out of network with their health insurer to prevent so-called “surprise billing.” Patients must request cost estimates at least seven days in advance.
Hospitals also must provide a web site which contains the standard costs of common items and services, which also is required under federal law to allow consumers to price shop.
Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, said the bill would give consumers a heads-up on potential costs to avoid financial surprises and could help control costs.
The bill, passed by a 32-0 vote, now advances to the House for consideration.
Lawmakers used the state budget to insert the hospital price transparency language and a provision requiring insurers to cover out-of-network care when provided at in-network facilities.
However, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the provisions, calling them unworkable and duplicative of federal requirements. A separate bill addressing “surprise billing” accompanying out-of-network care at covered providers is undergoing hearings in the Senate.

The price disclosure mandate comes as health care costs continue to spiral. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports the average price of an in-patient surgery increased 30% over five years. And, employee health insurance premiums and deductibles for a family plan have increased 162% over the last 10 years, the foundation reported.
The Ohio Hospital Association supports the bill, saying a “competitive health care market and patient demand” has prompted hospitals and other health care providers to publicly post costs for common procedures and inform patients of their uninsured share of the price.
“What patients want to know is how much something is going to cost them out of their pocket,” Sean McGlone, lawyer for the hospital association, told a Senate committee.
As introduced, the bill would have required physicians, therapists, dentists, chiropractors, psychologists and others to also provide cost estimates, but that portion was dropped due to concerns over burdensome regulations on smaller practioners, which DeWine cited in his veto.
The General Assembly’s last attempt to improve cost transparency in 2015 died in the courts. After delaying its enactment, the Ohio Hospital Association and other health care providers obtained a state court injunction early this year, successfully arguing the bill violated the “one bill, one topic” section of the Ohio Constitution by not being passed as stand-alone legislation.
In other action, the Senate voted unanimously to approve Senate Bill 52, creating the Ohio Cyber Reserve as civilian IT volunteers under the Ohio National Guard to be called to duty in response to cyber attacks on state and local government computer systems and other infrastructure.
To increase election security against hacking and other threats, the bill makes Secretary of State Frank LaRose a member of Ohio’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. The legislation also requires county boards of election to audit the official results of general and primary elections, which now occur under directives from the secretary of state. The bill now goes to DeWine for his signature.
https://www.dispatch.com/news/20191009/senate-passes-bill-to-allow-patients-to-learn-hospital-costs-in-advance