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 at least 300 shoppable services, which must be updated annually and made available without requiring user accounts or personal information. The Department of Health Services (DHS) is tasked with enforcing these requirements and monitoring compliance, including taking corrective actions against non-compliant hospitals.

Furthermore, the bill stipulates that any party seeking judgment against a patient for debts related to hospital services must certify that the hospital is compliant with the price transparency requirements before a judgment can be entered. The legislation also includes provisions for the DHS to publish a list of hospitals found to be non-compliant, thereby ensuring accountability and promoting transparency in hospital pricing practices. 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)