the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, in huge win for the Trump administration new federal regulations finalized Nov. 15 require hospitals to make public all the prices they negotiate with insurers and health plans, starting in 2021. The aim is to untangle the hospital marketplace with a wave of consumer-friendly information that will promote competition that leads to lower costs.
This make area hospitals not happy, but advocates of well-informed, patient-centered health care are cheering. Finally the real numbers ,hospitals already post online their so-called standard or “chargemaster” rates for the thousands of codes used in their billing systems. Almost nobody actually pays these rates; they are intentionally over inflated prices that give hospitals an edge in negotiating with insurers.Under the new regulations, hospitals, which account for about one-third of all health care costs, will have to divulge the actual rates paid by health plans and insurers for those same codes.
To help consumers make apples-to-apples comparisons, hospitals will be required to go beyond the individual codes and post their negotiated rates for a list of 300 so-called “shoppable” services that consumers might examine before selecting a provider. This requires hospitals to link services that usually accompany each other, such as laboratory and pathology charges along with surgery.
As for insurers, there is still a two-month public comment period before new regulations become final. As drafted now, the new law would force insurers to disclose negotiated rates, as well as rates paid for out-of-network treatments. They would also have to give cost information to consumers in advance.
I will vote for Trump in 2020 oh yes.
Ohhh this is such a big win. He must be exhausted.
“Ohhh this is such a big win. He must be exhausted.”
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Try to look beyond your hatred for a moment and try to enjoy the benefit that YOU will be receiving.
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Yeah I’ll do that. Maybe it will take my mind off that this admin has done nothing to help the more than 44 million Americans who are without health insurance. Thanks for the advice.
why I thought Obamacare solved everything ???
“Yeah I’ll do that. Maybe it will take my mind off that this admin has done nothing to help the more than 44 million Americans who are without health insurance. Thanks for the advice.”
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Great.
So glad you took my advice.
This is the first step on the road to happiness.
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OK knucklehead go vote for Hillary then if she runs. She’s a bullshitter and a crook. I’ll take my chances with Trump thank you. At least I know I have someone in the White House that has a big set of balls. Not like Obama, Carter, and a few others.