House Health Pol Nov 12: licensing international doctors, dental compact, abortion reporting, limited license counselor, controlled substances schedule, hospital price transparency

SB 95 is not the lame hospital price transparency bill of 2+ years ago.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) marked its Senate passage this spring with a state/federal issue status report.

https://alec.org/article/health-care-price-transparency-is-having-a-michigan-moment/

Health Care Price Transparency Is Having a Michigan Moment

SB 95, sponsored by Senator Jonathan Lindsey, prohibits hospitals from collecting on medical debt if the facility did not comply with federal price transparency laws at the time of service.

Brooklyn Roberts     |     March 7, 2025

This week, Michigan moved closer to joining a growing number of states that have enacted healthcare price transparency policies on a bipartisan basis. SB 95, sponsored by Senator Jonathan Lindsey, was approved overwhelmingly by the Michigan Senate in a 35-1 vote. The legislation would prohibit hospitals from collecting on medical debt if the facility did not comply with federal price transparency laws at the time of service. With SB 95, Michigan seeks to joins seven other states in passing laws to encourage compliance with federal requirements.

On June 24, 2019, then-President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at transforming the hazy world of American healthcare pricing. This order empowered patients by requiring hospitals and insurers to disclose the real costs of medical services upfront. Unfortunately, it was not enforced, and compliance is low. As a result of this inaction, states took matters into their own hands, passing transparency laws that allowed for state enforcement.

This state-led transparency movement continues to gain ground, with Michigan being the latest state to introduce legislation to demystify the country’s healthcare system. Michigan follows in the footsteps of Colorado, the first state to pass such a law to give hospitals a strong incentive to comply with transparency requirements These state initiatives demonstrate that when federal enforcement falls short, states can effectively advance and enforce their own healthcare price transparency efforts.

These transparency laws help patients take control of their healthcare by allowing them to compare prices for similar services at different hospitals and make informed decisions about where to receive care. The ability to know costs up front also helps prevent unexpected or surprise medical bills and assists patients in planning for healthcare expenditures. Price transparency can also help to drive competition between hospitals, resulting in lower costs.

Although federal enforcement has been lacking, states are about to get some help with their transparency efforts. President Trump doubled down on his price transparency requirements by signing an executive order on February 25 requiring hospitals and insurers to provide actual prices (not estimates). The order also calls for the development of a standardized format for presenting price information, which will make comparing prices across facilities or plans easier for patients. President Trump directed federal agencies to implement robust enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance—including the possibility of increased penalties for non-compliance.

The Trump administration’s mission to Make America Healthy Again isn’t just limited to food sources and dietary concerns. It includes giving people control over their healthcare. Knowing what their healthcare costs empowers patients to make better decisions, which helps make Americans both physically and financially healthier. Hospital price transparency laws like Michigan’s are just the first step toward untangling the complicated mess healthcare pricing has become.

About ALEC

The American Legislative Exchange Council is America’s largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism. Comprised of nearly one-quarter of the country’s state legislators and stakeholders from across the policy spectrum, ALEC members represent more than 60 million Americans and provide jobs to more than 30 million people in the United States.

In contrast, Massachusetts law sat on the books for years without effect.

Simply saying so, in law, does not make it so. Policy must factor in economic incentives, human nature, and system barriers.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/healthcare/follow-survey-finds-hospitals-still-fall-short-price-transparency/

Follow-Up Survey Finds Hospitals Still Fall Short On Price Transparency

by Editorial Staff    |    April 10, 2017

Estimated price of routine procedure at 21 Massachusetts hospitals shows price variations of up to 1,000 percent

BOSTON – Eighteen months after an initial survey found little price transparency at Massachusetts hospitals, a follow-up study from Pioneer Institute reveals that it remains highly unlikely that ordinary consumers can get a hospital price estimate within two business days of requesting it, as required by state law.

Download "Massachusetts Hospitals Score Poorly on Price Transparency…Again"
For “Massachusetts Hospitals Score Poorly on Price Transparency… Again,” researchers called 21 hospitals that had been part of the earlier survey to again request a self-pay estimate for an MRI of the left knee without contrast. Only nine of the hospitals were able to provide the estimate within two business days.

“Deductibles can range from $1,500 to more than $7,000,” said Pioneer Senior Fellow in Healthcare Policy Barbara Anthony, who authored the report with Scott Haller. “Given that reality, access to price information is more important than ever before. This survey once again demonstrates how frustrating and time consuming it is for the average consumer to obtain a price quote. ”

Unlike in the first survey, callers also asked about self-pay or cash discounts, which ranged from 6-to-47 percent.

There was wide variation in the prices quoted. Undiscounted estimates ranged from $1,061.22 at Morton Hospital and Medical Center in Taunton to $8,447 at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital. Discounted estimates, which is the price for a self-pay patient, went from $636.73 at Morton to $6,928 at MGH.

About two thirds of the hospitals readily disclosed the self-pay discount, while in the other cases callers had to ask about it. MRI reading fee discounts were disclosed at a similar rate.

While state law requires that price estimates be given within two business days, it took an average of two-to-four business days to get pricing information. Response time ranged from a few minutes at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield and Morton Hospital and Medical Center in Taunton, to six or seven days at some other hospitals.

Five of the 21 hospitals required callers to supply a diagnostic code before providing an estimate, which may violate state law. Several others asked for one, but hospital personnel eventually looked up the code – which is much more accessible to the institutions than it is to patients.

Some hospitals directed callers to a third party to get a separate estimate for the MRI reading fee, which can delay receipt of a quote by 48 hours or more. However, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center and Newton-Wellesley Hospital provided a consumer-friendly global price.

To check the reliability of price estimates, researchers called hospitals back at least a month after getting their original estimate. Seven hospitals provided different prices the second time. Six ranged from 2.7 percent above the original estimate at South Shore Hospital to 76.7 percent higher at MGH. Most of these different estimates resulted from mistakes made by hospitals during the first call. The second estimate from MetroWest Medical Center was 22 percent lower.

“I think there are two major takeaways from these surveys,” said Pioneer Executive Director Jim Stergios. “The first is that three years after it took effect, the time has come for hospitals to get serious about complying with the state’s price transparency law, and the second is that state government needs to exercise leadership and do a much better job of advancing compliance with these laws.”

Barbara Anthony, a lawyer, is a senior fellow in healthcare at Pioneer Institute focusing on healthcare price and quality transparency. She is also an associate at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Business and Government. She served as Massachusetts Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation from 2009 to 2015.

Scott Haller graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. He started working at Pioneer Institute through the Northeastern’s Co-op Program and continues now as the Lovett C. Peters Fellow in Healthcare. He previously worked at the Office of the Inspector General.

Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.

Yesterday's agenda follows up the abortion and price transparency bills.

Wednesday, December 10, 2025     9:00 AM

AGENDA

HB 4412 (Rep. Steele)
Mental health: hospitalization; person requiring treatment; revise, and modify certain procedures for treatment.

HB 4413 (Rep. Tisdel)
Mental health: other; hospital evaluations for assisted outpatient treatment; expand.

HB 4414 (Rep. Kuhn)
Criminal procedure: mental capacity; outpatient treatment for misdemeanor offenders with mental health issues; provide for.

HB 5162 (Rep. St. Germaine)
Controlled substances: schedules; scheduling of certain controlled substances; modify.

HB 5201 (Rep. Paquette)
Health: abortion; abortion reporting requirements; provide for.

HB 5202 (Rep. Wortz)
Health: abortion; abortion reporting requirements; provide for.

HB 5203 (Rep. Smit)
Criminal procedure: sentencing guidelines; sentencing guidelines for releasing confidential information related to an abortion; provide for.

SB 95 (Sen. Lindsey)
Health facilities: hospitals; collection of debts; prohibit if hospital is not in compliance with price transparency laws.

SB 501 (Sen. Santana)
Health occupations: physical therapists; licensing process; modify to incorporate physical therapy licensing compact.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE