Hidden on page 39 is the answer regarding hospital pricing transparency requirements:
Also, beginning in 2010, hospitals would be required to list standard charges for all services and Medicare DRGs.
It's about time. I think hospital pricing transparency will do more for prices than any government mandated quality initiative. If hospital pricing has compete on price, they will have to, by default, compete on quality. Quality that reduces the rate of complications which would erode profit margins. There's a reason why markets operate with efficiency. The consumer can always go down the street. Which is also why I am a firm believer in high deductible policies which force the consumer to purchase their health care services, most of which are non emergent, and therefor seek the lowest price at the highest quality.
This one sentence in the Senate bill regarding hospital pricing transparency will do more for the cost conundrum we face than any other change they seek to make. One major reason why health care is so expensive is because nobody knows what it costs. With the explosion of high deductible plans, it's time for that to change. Hospitals that understand the savvy health care consumer don't need a government mandate to make it happen.
