Senate Bill 383 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 Department of Health Services (DHS) is tasked with enforcing these requirements and monitoring hospital compliance.

Furthermore, the bill introduces a certification requirement for any party seeking judgment against a patient for debts related to hospital services. They must certify under oath that the hospital is compliant with the applicable price transparency requirements as maintained by DHS. The bill also includes provisions for penalties against hospitals that fail to comply with these transparency standards, ensuring that patients are protected from aggressive debt collection practices if the hospital has not met its obligations. The legislation 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)