The bill amends Section 34-12E-11 to require hospitals in South Dakota to annually report charge information to the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations. The updated language specifies that hospitals must report using either the All Patient Refined Diagnosis-Related Groups or the Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Groups for cases with at least ten occurrences in the previous year. Additionally, the Department of Health is tasked with establishing rules for the reporting process, which must include methods for reporting charges and standards for the validity and comparability of reported charges. The bill also defines "charge information" to encompass various metrics, including the number of discharges, average length of stay, average and median charges, demographic information, payer mix, and details on uncompensated care.

Furthermore, the bill repeals several existing provisions, including Section 34-12E-11.1, which previously mandated the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations to create a public web-based system for reporting hospital charge information. This repeal eliminates the requirement for disclaimers regarding factors affecting actual patient charges and the obligation to compare hospital-specific data to statewide data. Sections 34-12E-12 and 34-12E-13 are also repealed, which removes the Department of Health's responsibility to link to the now-defunct web-based system and the previous definition of charge information.

Statutes affected:
Introduced, 02/04/2025: 34-12E-11, 34-12E-11.1, 34-12E-12, 34-12E-13