Assembly Bill 353 aims to enhance price transparency in hospitals and restrict certain debt collection actions against patients. The bill mandates that hospitals provide publicly accessible cost information for specific items and services, including a digital file of standard charges in a machine-readable format. This file must include details such as gross charges, payer-specific negotiated charges, and discounted cash prices. Additionally, hospitals are required to maintain a consumer-friendly list of standard charges for at least 300 shoppable services, which must be updated annually and made available without requiring user accounts or personal information.

The bill also establishes enforcement mechanisms through the Department of Health Services (DHS), which will monitor hospital compliance with these price transparency requirements. If a hospital is found non-compliant, DHS can issue written notices, request corrective action plans, or impose penalties. Furthermore, any party seeking judgment against a patient for hospital-related debts must certify that the hospital is compliant with the price transparency requirements before a judgment can be entered. The bill amends several sections of the statutes, replacing references to the previous sections (50.39) with new sections (50.42) to reflect these changes.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 50.32, 50.33(intro.), 50.33, 50.33(3), 50.34, 50.36(1), 50.36, 50.39(1), 50.39, 50.39(2), 50.39(3), 50.39(4)