A Michigan Senate committee is considering legislation requiring hospitals to post the prices of the various procedures and services they provide. Charlie Owens, Michigan Director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, says it’s only fair for patients to know roughly what they’ll be charged, so they can make decisions about where to go for non-emergency treatments.
“If you go into a hospital, we don’t think it’s too much to ask that you have a pretty good idea of what your costs are going to b going in,” Owens told WSJM.
Owens says hospitals are reluctant to give out information on prices, partly because what they charge can depend on what type of coverage a patient has. He adds the need for transparency is only growing as health care costs continue to rise. Senate Bill 147, sponsored by Republican state Senator Joe Hune, is now before the Senate Health Policy Committee.
