Nearly 20% of U.S. hospitals have been warned that they violated the federal price transparency rules that went into effect in 2021, according to a Dec. 20 report from Bloomberg.
Government regulators evaluated 1,750 hospitals as of early December, and about 1,300 have received warnings of rule violations, according to the report. Most corrected errors after receiving warnings. To date, only 446 hospitals that CMS has reviewed were free of violations.
Bloomberg analyzed records obtained through public records requests. Hospitals belonging to some of the largest health systems were among those that have received warnings:
- HCA Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.)
- Ascension (St. Louis)
- CommonSpirit Health (Chicago)
- Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.)
- Providence (Renton, Wash.)
- SSM Health (St. Louis)
- Steward Health Care (Dallas)
- NewYork-Presbyterian (New York City)
- Emory University Hospital (Atlanta)
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
- Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.)
- Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas)
- Memorial Hermann Health System (Houston)
Bloomberg contacted all the above systems for comment and those who responded told the news outlet they were committed to improving transparency and would continue to ensure patients have access to the most current information. Others said CMS flagged minor violations, such as files with formatting issues that were made in the early days of the program when hospitals were still learning how to navigate the rules.
Ariel Levin, director of policy at the American Hospital Association, told Bloomberg that hospitals are working with CMS to comply with the rules, but some requirements are difficult to meet because prices are determined by complicated formulas and hospitals were preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, 14 hospitals have been fined for price transparency violations. Seven of those hospitals have appealed their fines and remain under review. Half of the hospitals that have been fined have fewer than 100 beds, including five with fewer than 50.