Patient Pricing Information Bill Dies In The Senate
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) – A proposal which would have required doctors and facilities such as surgical centers and diagnostic-imaging centers to provide patients with pricing information has died in a Senate committee.
On Wednesday the Senate Health Regulation Committee voted 4-3 against introducing a bill (SPB 7186) just hours after the House Health & Human Services Quality Subcommittee approved its version (HB 1329).
In addition to pricing, the bill addressed an issue known as "balance billing,'' which can occur when patients face charges for services provided by doctors who do not have contracts with the patients' insurance companies. The bill would have helped shield patients from such charges for emergency care.
Richard Corcoran, R-New Port Richey, who sponsored the bill in the House, said providing more information about prices is a free-market approach to health care. But critics, including physicians groups, said a variety of factors play into pricing and that information provided to patients would be confusing.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
