Two Ohio Republican lawmakers introduced a bill this week they claim will make hospital prices more transparent and affordable.
Federal law already requires hospitals to provide information about standard prices online. However, a majority of hospitals today are not in compliance. Ohio State Representatives Tim Barhorst (R-Wintersville) and Ron Ferguson (R-Fort Laramie) filed a bill this week that would codify these federal laws into the Ohio Revised Code to allow for greater enforcement.
“This bill will empower consumers to make informed decisions about their health care. By codifying and enforcing existing federal laws, we hope to lower costs for hardworking Ohioans,” Ferguson said.
According to Ferguson, the bill intends to remove any surprises for individuals seeking health care.
“Make sure that when you go into a hospital, you know exactly what you’re going to be paying for something and you know before you go,” Ferguson said.
If the legislation becomes law, there would be restrictions on collecting payment from patients if a hospital was found to violate these price transparency requirements, including banning referring, assigning, and selling medical debt to collectors, banning the use of the court system to get a judgment on outstanding medical debt, and filing a negative credit report against a patient for outstanding debt.
According to Barhorst, the passage of this bill is his top priority.
“This was my priority bill and this is really the reason I ran. We have to take these steps to ensure Ohioans not only have control over their healthcare options but to ensure the healthcare system in Ohio is in lockstep with federal law and medicare rules. Our hope is to alleviate problems towards the unknown cost of health care and give people the transparency they deserve,” Barhorst said.
The proposal is based on a bill that a majority Democratic legislature in Colorado passed last year. According to the Ohio bill’s sponsors, this is evidence that healthcare transparency is a nonpartisan issue.”
“I expect to have overwhelming bipartisan support for this,” Ferguson said.
The bill has received 30 Republican signatures, according to the sponsors. It hasn’t yet been given a number or assigned to a committee, but the sponsors said that they hope that once it does and gets a hearing, Democrats will also support it.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Tim Barhorst” by Tim Barhorst. Photo “Ron Ferguson” by Rep Ron Ferguson. Background Photo “Ohio State Capitol” by Steven Miller. CC BY 2.0.
