Florida hospitals fight back over cost transparency rules

TALLAHASSEE — Florida hospitals are battling a pair of proposed transparency rules requiring hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to provide data to patients about possible treatment costs. A statewide group representing most hospitals filed an administrative challenge last week that maintains the rules go beyond what law authorizes.

The Florida Hospital Association also maintains the state underestimated the fiscal impact of the proposed rules and contends they require legislative approval because they’d increase costs for hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers by more than $1 million over five years. Shelisha Coleman, an Agency for Health Care Administration spokeswoman, said the state does not comment on pending legal matters. The agency filed a motion Tuesday arguing that an administrative law judge should dismiss the case.

The Florida Hospital Association represents more than 200 hospitals and health systems. Many of them also own or operate ambulatory surgical centers. The challenged rules — one aimed at hospitals, the other at ambulatory surgical centers — would require the facilities to provide information online and personally to patients, prospective patients and responsible parties.

The case marks another showdown between hospitals and the administration of Gov. Rick Scott, a former health-care executive.

After a bruising 2015 legislative session forced into overtime after a divisive battle over Medicaid expansion, Scott created a panel to study health care costs at Florida hospitals. The next year, he made health-care “transparency” one of his top priorities with the Legislature. Scott initially wanted to cap what hospitals could charge patients. Hospitals that exceeded price caps could’ve been prosecuted by the state attorney general.

Ultimately, lawmakers passed a law that requires hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to provide access to searchable information on their websites about “service bundles.”

The facilities would be required to disclose that the information is an estimate of costs and that actual costs would be based on services actually provided to patients.