HEALTH CARE COSTS TRANSPARENCY BILL BECOMES LAW

AUGUSTA – A bill to provide transparency in health care costs became law today. The legislation is a result of a special study commission chaired by Democratic Senator Geoff Gratwick of Bangor to explore the transparency of hospital billing and increase public access to hospital financial information and healthcare costs.

“As a nation of seasoned shoppers, we have honed our skills at yard sales, in bargain basements, and over the backyard fence,” said Senator Gratwick, a practicing physician and the Senate Chair of the Insurance and Financial Services Committee. “It makes common sense that we should also be informed shoppers for our health care.”

The new law will provide patients with a critical tool for managing their health care costs by allowing patients to determine how much an elective procedure would cost and to compare the costs of hospitals and providers.

Senator Gratwick introduced the measure partly as a result of a report by Time Magazine that revealed exorbitant medical costs hidden in bills from hospitals in Maine and other states. One cancer patient was charged $77 for a box of gauze; another patient with pneumonia was charged $134 for a $5 bag of saline.

A recent federal report found that there is significant variation in prices for the same medical procedures at different hospitals. Here in Maine, the average price of pneumonia treatment is $20,058 at York Hospital, but only $5,402 at Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent.

The bill, LD 1760, “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Study Transparency, Costs and Accountability of Health Care System Financing” will go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns.

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