The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today announced changes to its enforcement process for the hospital price transparency rule. CMS said it will now automatically impose a civil monetary penalty if hospitals fail to submit a corrective action plan on time or fail to complete the CAP within 45 days. In addition, the agency will no longer issue a warning notice to hospitals that have not posted any machine-readable file or shoppable services list/price estimator tool, but will immediately ask the hospital to submit a CAP.
To read the full hospital price transparency enforcement update newsletter, visit the CMS newsroom.
The newsletter provides background information on hospital price transparency requirements, as authorized by 2718(d) of the Public Health Service Act.
CMS has three main avenue for monitoring and assessing hospitals noncompliance:
- Evaluating complaints made by the public;
- CMS’s review of individuals’ or entities’ analysis of noncompliance; and
- Internal audits of hospitals’ websites.
Information on Enforcement actions to date are outlined, including an explanation of how CMS is leveraging automation to complete hospital reviews quickly, accurately, and consistently.Last, a complete list of updates to enforcement processes with a Q&A Section.
For additional information, see the Hospital Price Transparency website
