Ohio Senate passes hospital price transparency bill. Critics say it's not enough

The Ohio Senate voted Wednesday to make hospitals publish the cost of their services, a plan that critics say doesn't guarantee enough transparency for patients.

The Senate passed a modified version of House Bill 49, which aims to require hospitals to publish a list of standard prices. Advocates say this would allow patients to shop around and know the cost of the procedure they need ahead of time.

The bill passed 27-6.

The original version, which cleared the House last year with bipartisan support, would allow patients to submit a complaint to the Ohio Department of Health if hospitals don't disclose prices. The Senate bill removed that language and would allow hospitals to publish estimates, instead of actual prices. Senators also reduced the penalties for hospitals that violate the rules.

The Ohio Hospital Association said the changes align the bill more closely with federal rules for price transparency. Sen. George Lang, R-West Chester, said it will ensure Ohio's regulations aren't more bureaucratic than federal policy.

But advocates contend the Senate "gutted" the House-approved plan. The group Patient Rights Advocate dispatched trucks around Columbus this week calling on lawmakers to approve "real price transparency requirements." The organization reviewed 79 hospitals in Ohio and found just 9% are complying with the federal rule, which took effect in 2021.

Because of that, "Ohio needs strong accountability and real enforcement more urgently than almost any other state," chairman Cynthia Fisher said in a statement.

The bill will now be sent back to the House or to a conference committee for further changes to work out the differences.

"Estimates are not prices," said Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, who sponsored the original bill. "We feel there's too many loopholes within that, where hospitals could be putting out estimates instead of prices. We want to ensure that there's prices because that's what patients want."

Erin Glynn and Haley BeMiller are reporters for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio lawmakers clash on hospital price transparency bill