HB306, the “Fair Pricing for Routine Medical Care Act,” limits when hospitals and health systems may charge facility fees to patients. Beginning January 1, 2027, hospitals and health systems would be prohibited from directly charging patients facility fees for preventive services, vaccination services, and telehealth services provided in outpatient settings, including services delivered from a patient’s vehicle. The bill preserves facility fees for inpatient care, hospital emergency departments, and freestanding emergency departments, and it does not bar billing an insurer when allowed by contract or law.
The bill also creates new transparency and billing-notice requirements. Hospitals and health systems that do charge facility fees must notify patients when appointments are scheduled and when services are rendered, post bilingual signage, and provide standardized itemized bills that identify facility fees and insurance billing. If a patient cancels, declines, or reschedules because of a disclosed facility fee, the provider may not impose a cancellation or no-show penalty. The bill further requires reporting of facility-fee data to the state all-payer claims database, including the number and amount of fees charged and the most common and highest-cost billing codes associated with those fees.
Impact
HB306 amends state health care billing practices by restricting direct patient facility-fee charges for certain outpatient preventive, vaccination, and telehealth services, while leaving other hospital and emergency settings largely untouched. It also adds disclosure, billing-format, and data-reporting obligations for hospitals and health systems, and creates a specific exemption for rural hospitals and rural hospital clinics. The bill affects hospitals, health systems, patients, insurers, and the Department of Health/all-payer claims database system by increasing transparency and limiting some out-of-pocket charges.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislature, passing the House 68-0 and the Senate 38-0. The unanimous votes suggest strong bipartisan agreement on limiting surprise facility fees and improving price transparency for routine care. The final enactment and gubernatorial signature indicate the measure was viewed favorably overall.
Contention
No committee transcript was provided, and the recorded votes show no opposition on final passage, so there is little evidence of active floor-level controversy. The main policy tensions inherent in the bill are between consumer cost protection and hospital revenue/administrative concerns, especially around whether facility fees should be allowed for outpatient preventive care and telehealth. The rural exemption also suggests sensitivity to access and financial pressures on rural providers, but no specific objections are documented in the available materials.