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Hospital Price Transparency
The plan to have hospitals in Wisconsin actually tell people how much it costs for an x-ray or blood work is a long way from becoming law. But it is moving at the Capitol. And one of the lawmakers behind the plan is hopeful it is making progress.
The Price Transparency for Patients Bill from Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, and Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, got its first hearing in the Senate's Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs Wednesday.
“Getting a public hearing is such a big first step,” Bradley said. “The next step is to get it voted out of committee. We're going to talk to the chair of the committee and the members to make sure we have the votes, and I believe we do because we have a number of members on the committee that are on the bill.”
But getting it out of committee is just the first step. The plan would then need to get a vote in the full Senate and full Assembly. That’s going to be difficult because the Wisconsin Hospital Association is fighting the plan.
“This is not an attack on hospitals. We love what the hospitals do, the frontline workers, and nurses, and doctors they're doing a great job. They're doing such a great job taking care of us. They're great employers. They're great community members. This is a disagreement with hospital administrators that are focused on keeping this information from being fully transparent.”
Bradley’s legislation would require hospitals in Wisconsin to post the prices for non-emergency treatments on their websites. He said that would allow patients to shop for services like labs, x-rays, and other types of services that almost all hospitals offer.
The hospitals said in Wednesday’s hearing that many hospitals already publish cost information, and worry that a new requirement from state government would only make hospital services more expensive.
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