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On Dec. 29, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a challenge brought by the American Hospital Association (AHA) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) hospital price transparency final rule. As a result, the requirements became effective on Jan. 1.
The AHA challenge was brought on behalf of its members.
Hospitals are required to make their third-party negotiated rates for items and services publicly available online in two ways. In order to comply, hospitals must post the following information on their websites:
- A comprehensive machine-readable file that includes all standard charges for all hospital items and services
- A searchable display of standard charges for at least 300 “shoppable” services
CMS has indicated that it does not anticipate providing waivers or hardship exceptions to the requirements and intends to begin compliance monitoring activities this month.
CHA has developed resources to help hospitals comply with the rule and key messages for addressing patient and media questions about the requirement.
