Opinion: We’re missing the true point of hospital price transparency
CMS now requires hospitals to post online a list of all charges they can levy, but here's why that won't bring true #pricetransparency into the cost of health care.
Since New Year’s Day, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has learned the hard way that forcing hospitals to post their standard prices online brings as much confusion as insight to prospective patients. Rather than enlighten us on the cost of, say, a knee replacement, we must now parse the complicated medical jargon associated with knee replacement surgery — do I need the Component FML for $42,011 at one Texas hospital or do I need its at $25,956? — while trying to figure out how much insurers will knock off the price.
