The American Hospital Association lost a legal battle against the Trump administration over a rule requiring hospitals to publish secret rates for services after negotiating with insurers.
Tuesday’s decision out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is a win for the Trump administration’s bid to improve healthcare pricing transparency, a key policy initiative put forth in 2018.
This is a huge WIN for American patients. This was a disingenuous self-serving lawsuit designed to keep patients in the dark. Thank you to @POTUS @realDonaldTrump who always puts patients first. https://t.co/deveW79cjT
— Administrator Seema Verma (@SeemaCMS) June 23, 2020
Hospitals and insurance companies objected to a rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which would require hospitals to publish the secret rates for services that they negotiate with insurers. Obamacare includes a rule that hospitals must also post the standard charges for services, which does not take into consideration what people on different insurance plans would have to pay.
“Given the complex economic relationships among the insured patients, hospitals, and third-party intermediaries, the agency reasonably interpreted ‘standard charges’ as including the rates negotiated with third-party payers,” Judge Carl Nichols wrote.
The AHA argued that the rule infringed on the First Amendment rights of hospitals and insurers and that the Department of Health and Human Services was overstepping its authority.
The rule is scheduled to take effect in January 2021. Hospitals face fines up to $300 a day if they don’t publicize negotiated rates.
