A recent report from PatientRightsAdvocate.org (PRA) revealed that only 15% of hospitals in Alabama are in compliance with the federal hospital price transparency rule.
According to federal law, each hospital operating in the United States will be required to provide clear, accessible pricing information online about the items and services they offer. Hospitals must provide the information as a comprehensive machine-readable file with all items and services, and in a display of shoppable services in a consumer-friendly format.
According to PRA’s seventh Semi-Annual Hospital Price Transparency report, which examines 2,000 hospitals nationwide, Alabama compliance has fallen from 20% since the last report to 15% now.
The report revealed that only 5 out of 34 looked at were compliant. In terms of pricing data sufficiency, only 12% were deemed sufficient.
Earlier this year, PRA released a poll showing that 98% of Americans support healthcare price transparency. The poll also found that 77% of respondents believe medical debt is a serious problem.
Hospitals that were fully compliant include Crestwood Medical Center, Grandview Medical Center, Medical Center Enterprise, North Alabama Medical Center, and South Baldwin Regional Medical Center.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
