Calif. hospitals to obey new chargemaster law

Hospitals in California said they are willing to obey a new state law which requires them to publish lists of their 25 most common inpatient and outpatient procedures. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger officially signed Assembly Bill 1045 last week. A similar bill passed in 2003 but produced mixed results. Critics say the earlier law wasn't specific enough about the data hospitals are required to publish and the ways in which they are required to publish it. As a result, some hospitals released their entire "chargemasters," lists which usually include thousands of possible charges. The new version of the law requires hospitals to break down procedures by their average price. Observers have questioned the lack of transparency in hospital pricing for years, noting that healthcare is one of the few areas where customers are unable to comparison shop.

- see this article from the North County Times

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