Relating to standard charges established by a hospital.
HB 3557 requires Oregon-licensed hospitals to create, update, and publicly post detailed lists of their standard charges. The bill covers both a general machine-readable list of all standard charges for items and services and a separate list for at least 300 shoppable services, or all such services if the hospital offers fewer than 300. Each list must include extensive pricing and billing information, such as gross charges, discounted cash prices, payor-specific negotiated rates, minimum and maximum negotiated charges, facility locations, and billing codes like CPT, HCPCS, DRG, and NDC.
The bill also requires hospitals to submit each updated list and a report to the Oregon Health Authority, which may adopt rules on format and additional content, audit hospital websites, and require immediate correction or corrective action for violations. The authority must also create a public electronic complaint form. If a hospital is not compliant when a service is provided or purchased, it may be barred from collecting the related debt, and patients may sue for refunds, dismissal of collection actions, treble damages, and attorney fees. Civil penalties of up to $5,000 per day may also be imposed.
HB 3557 would add new hospital transparency and enforcement requirements to Oregon law by mandating public disclosure of hospital standard charges and shoppable-service pricing in machine-readable, searchable formats. It would create new obligations for hospitals to report pricing data to the Oregon Health Authority, preserve records, and comply with audits and corrective actions, while also creating a private right of action and civil penalties for noncompliance. The bill would directly affect hospitals, patients facing medical bills, third-party payors, and the Oregon Health Authority.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the overall sentiment appears to be pro-transparency and consumer-protection oriented. The measure is framed as a disclosure and accountability bill aimed at making hospital pricing easier to compare and understand. No recorded opposition, amendments, or vote history is available here to indicate broader support or resistance.
The main points of potential contention are the scope and burden of the disclosure requirements, especially the need to publish extensive negotiated-rate data, maintain machine-readable public files, and provide at least 300 shoppable services. Hospitals may also object to the enforcement structure, including audits, corrective action mandates, civil penalties, and the private right of action tied to debt collection. On the other side, patients and consumer advocates would likely support the bill’s transparency goals and its strong remedies for noncompliance.