Texas has the highest number of hospitals receiving warnings citing a lack of pricing information for services. CEO of Direct Care Alliance, David Balat, says it’s not they are breaking the law, they’re just not complying within specifics of an executive order. “It might be formatting; some things might be missing. They just need to get that cleaned up. I think the warning system is working the way it should.” Balat said.
The initial warnings by the Trump administration were part of a crackdown on healthcare price transparency as part of the Great Healthcare Plan signed back in December of 2020 that were signed by Trump to begin in January of 2021. This is so patients can understand the cost of things like blood work or imaging tests and compare those costs with other nearby hospitals. Critics say a lack of transparency can contribute to rising healthcare costs and unexpected medical bills. Balat says the federal government has given these systems plenty of time.
Local Hospitals on the list include Ad Hospital East LLC, Atrium Medical Center, CHI St. Luke’s Health-Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Houston Physicians’ Hospital, St. Luke’s Patients Medical Center St. Luke’s Sugar Land Hospital, The Menninger Clinic, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and West Oaks Hospital.
At least two of those hospitals—The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and The Menninger Clinic—said this was due to a minor formatting issue and has since been corrected.
Texas had the highest number of hospitals on the administration’s list with a total of 42 warnings.
Balat says in addition to pricing transparency- the hospitals should disclose the cash price. “Depending on what those rates are set at they can be more affordable.” Balat says the savings can be as high as 90 percent. With hospital systems abiding by the federal law, consumers should be able to search “pricing transparency” on the hospital website to shop the market.