WASHINGTON, July 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, PatientRightsAdvocate.org (PRA) released a statement on the findings of the new machine-readable file (MRF) tracker by Turquoise Health that tracks real-time hospital compliance with the federal hospital price transparency rule."We applaud Turquoise Health for creating a live tracker showing hospital compliance with the Hospital Price Transparency Rule. Unfortunately, much like our semi-annual compliance reports, their data show alarmingly low rates of full compliance with the hospital price transparency requirements," said PatientRightsAdvocate.org Founder and Chairman Cynthia Fisher. "Despite the rules being in effect for more than three years, all healthcare consumers are harmed by a lack of access to real upfront prices. With three-quarters of hospitals failing to pass CMS's validator tool, which by their admission does not constitute compliance with transparency requirements, it is clear that lackluster enforcement of hospital price transparency rules by CMS has enabled hospitals to maintain unacceptably low rates of compliance. Increased enforcement, including fines, and the passage of robust legislation to codify and strengthen these rules are necessary to bring more hospitals into full compliance and protect patients from overcharges, errors, and even fraud in medical billing."Background:According to the Turquoise tracker, only 16.7% of hospitals nationwide comply with the latest form and structure requirements that pass the CMS validator tool (which does not assess the accuracy of the data) and post a compliant text file. Of the MRFs analyzed by Turquoise, half post the data necessary to be considered fully compliant with the price transparency rules.PRA's sixth Semi-Annual Hospital Price Transparency Compliance Report revealed just 34.5% of hospitals surveyed were in full compliance with the federal hospital price transparency rule

American medical care costs have gone up, and that’s reportedly helped inflation remain high.Hospital prices climbed 7.7% between April 2023 and April 2024, the biggest monthly increase since October 2010, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday (May 16), citing data from the U.S. Department of Labor.The report also included an analysis — performed for the WSJ by Turquoise Health — of recent price increases for specific procedures helping fuel this trend.For example, the cost of performing an angioplasty on cardiac patients grew $670, or 4.5%, to $15,640 in the first squatter of the year, the report said. Intensive care for newborns now costs as much as $7,939 per day, a 5% increase. And breast biopsies performed with a needle rose $220 during the period, or 4.6%, to $5,027.The first wave of inflation missed hospitals, as their prices were already set by contracts with health insurers, according to the report. However, inflation has begun to take hold as these healthcare providers have renegotiated prices. The reason: Hospitals need to pay for rising wages, with hiring in the health sector remaining robust.Economists said they expect this trend to stick around as upheaval in the labor market continues to affect wages and health insurance contracts, per the report.“We’re not expecting much slowing,” said Alan Detmeister, an economist for UBS