HHS OIG Report Finds Half of Hospitals Fail to Comply with Transparency Law

A new report by HHS’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) finds widespread failure among hospitals to comply with federal price transparency law, with almost half of 100 surveyed hospitals not fully compliant. The report found that many hospitals are not publishing their prices in accordance with the law, with some hospitals saying they would rather pay the fines than comply.

Of the 37 hospitals that did not comply with one or both of the law’s requirements, 34 hospitals did not comply with requirements associated with publishing comprehensive machine-readable files and 14 hospitals did not comply with requirements associated with displaying shoppable services in a consumer-friendly manner.

CMS concurred with OIG’s recommendations that CMS review noncompliant hospitals and execute enforcement measures as applicable; consider implementing changes suggested by hospitals, including developing compliance programs tailored for smaller hospitals; and allocate sufficient resources to maintain a robust review program of hospital compliance.