Hospital Transparency Act (660)

Passed by the General Assembly on 10 November 661 - 11 Aye, 7 Nay, 3 Abstain.
An act to increase consumer information, encourage price competition and reduced rates, and combat chargemaster abuse for all Kodiaker hospitals and healthcare offices.

Article One - Definitions

1.1 A hospital is defined as any organization operating with the specific purpose of providing primarily inpatient medical care and nursing, as well as outpatient services not covered by any healthcare office.

1.2 A healthcare office is any organization operating with the specific purpose of providing outpatient general or specialist medical care and nursing.

Article Two - Hospital Price Transparency

2.1 Any hospital must publish a publicly-accessible document outlining the services offered by the hospital or within the hospital. This list must be updated monthly or whenever the price of a service is altered.

2.1.1 Acceptable mediums include: signage in full display at the entrance to the location, documents on display at the entrance to the location, documents published online in an easily accessible place, and any combination of the above. Items must be displayed in plain language and reasonably understandable.

2.2 Prior to any procedure to which the patient must consent, the hospital must inform the patient of the cost of the procedure, to which the patient must agree prior to the procedure.

2.2.1 Any procedure to which the patient agrees must be charged to the patient at no more than the rate agreed upon by the patient.

2.2.2 Any procedure that is of an emergency nature, to which the patient cannot legally agree due to extenuating or life-threatening circumstances, will be exempt from this rule. Any such procedure must conform to the published price. Any such procedure must be deemed necessary by the attending doctor.

2.2.3 Should the patient be an individual unable to legally consent, a parent, legal guardian, or medical proxy must consent.

2.3 The provider must confirm the increase of any price with the patient or, in the case that the patient is unable to repond or legally consent, their medical proxy, guardian, or parent. The provider may reduce the final price of the procedure and must inform the patient of such a reduction.

Article Three - Healthcare Office Transparency

3.1 Any healthcare office must publish a publicly-accessible document outlining the services offered by the healthcare office. This list must be updated monthly or whenever the price of a service is altered.

3.1.1 Acceptable mediums include: signage in full display at the entrance to the location, documents on display at the entrance to the location, documents published online in an easily accessible place, and any combination of the above. Items must be displayed in plain language and reasonably understandable.

3.2 Prior to any procedure to which the patient must consent, the healthcare offices must inform the patient of the cost of the procedure, to which the patient must agree prior to the procedure.

3.2.1 Any procedure to which the patient agrees must be charged to the patient at no more than the rate agreed upon by the patient.

3.2.2 Any base visiting fees charged by the healthcare office are not included in the price of procedures, but may not exceed fifty (50) florins per visit. This fee must be published and communicated to the patient prior to any procedure taking place.

Article Four - Enforcement

4.1 The Public Health Service (PHS), under the authority of the Minister of Health and Education, shall be established.

4.1.1 The PHS shall be administered by a Director of the PHS.

4.1.2 The PHS shall be tasked with the enforcement of all public health standards and all health-related statues under Title 2 of the Kodiak Law Code.

4.1.3 The PHS shall be granted 150 million florins per fiscal quarter for the execution of its assigned tasks. In addition, all fines for the violation of any Title 2 code of the Kodiak Law Code shall be paid to the PHS.

4.2 Any hospital found in violation of any of these statutes shall be fined no less than one million florins and an additional penalty of ten thousand florins for every day in which that hospital is found to be out of compliance with any of these statutes. Additionally, any patient who is charged fraudulently under the provisions of this act shall have their entire payment remediated. Any hospital found to be defrauding any patient shall be fined fifty thousand florins for each patient.

4.3 Any healthcare office found in violation of any of these statutes shall be fined no less than ten thousand florins and an additional penalty of one thousand florins for every day in which that healthcare office is found to be out of compliance with any of these statutes. Additionally, any patient who is charged fraudulently under the provisions of this act shall have their entire payment remediated. Any hospital found defrauding any patient shall be fined five thousand florins for each patient.

4.4 Any hospital or healthcare office found to be out of compliance for more than 30 days during any 365 calendar days shall be prohibited from admitting new patients for procedures or overnight stays and any relevant licenses to operate will be revoked permanently for that organization.

Tabled by Braughn F. G. Kryos, MGA