Providing for hospital price transparency and for prohibition on collection action of debt against patients for noncompliant hospitals.
Summary
SB 752 would amend Pennsylvania’s Health Care Facilities Act to create a new hospital price transparency chapter and a related enforcement chapter. It requires hospitals to publicly post, on their websites and in hard-copy form upon request, a comprehensive list of standard charges for all items and services, plus a consumer-friendly list of at least 300 shoppable services (or all such services the hospital offers if fewer than 300). The required disclosures include gross charges, discounted cash prices, negotiated rates by payer and plan, minimum and maximum negotiated charges, billing codes, and location-specific information. Hospitals must update these lists at least annually, submit them to the Department of Health, and make prior versions available.
Impact
The bill would add new statutory duties for hospitals and the Department of Health, including website posting requirements, standardized reporting, complaint intake, audits, and enforcement authority. It also requires annual reporting on facility fees and mandates patient notice when facility fees may be charged. The department would be authorized to issue notices of violation, require plans of correction, impose civil penalties, and make hospitals ineligible for uncompensated care payments after repeated violations. In addition, the bill would prohibit hospitals that are not in material compliance with the transparency requirements from pursuing collection actions on debts tied to the noncompliant service, and it would require refunds, debt forgiveness, dismissal of related suits, and credit-report corrections in certain cases.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee transcript and no recorded votes, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to gauge support or opposition. Based on the bill’s structure, it appears designed to appeal to consumer transparency and patient-protection concerns, while also imposing significant compliance obligations on hospitals. The absence of recorded action suggests the bill was introduced and referred but not yet publicly debated in the materials provided.
Contention
The main points of contention are likely to be the scope and administrative burden of the disclosure requirements, the feasibility of maintaining highly detailed payer-specific pricing data, and the enforcement penalties tied to noncompliance. Hospitals may object to the breadth of reporting, the annual and ongoing update obligations, and the risk of losing uncompensated care funds or being barred from collections. Patient advocates and transparency supporters are likely to favor the bill’s disclosure mandates and the debt-collection prohibition, especially the provisions aimed at facility fees and surprise billing-like practices. The bill also raises potential disputes over how material compliance is measured and whether the collection-action ban is an appropriate remedy for transparency violations.
Health facilities: hospitals; collection of debts; prohibit if hospital is not in compliance with price transparency laws. Creates new act. TIE BAR WITH: SB 0094'25