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League of Women Voters of Boulder County
Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy
Serving the People of Boulder County, Colorado

Healthcare Committee

Hospital Transparency regulations from CMS and Col...
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President Trump and President Biden each issued Executive Orders requiring the nation's hospitals to post their Chargemaster rates for patients/consumers to access. These rates have a significant impact on individuals who do not fall into indigent category and do not have healthcare insurance. I am suggesting that each county healthcare committee go on their local hospitals website and look at these chargemaster rates. Each hospital sets it's own chargemaster rates and they do not reflect the negotiated rates the hospital sets with healthcare insurance providers (public or private). Some hospitals routinely charge 2-4 times the average cost for services negotiated by healthcare insurers. In a rural county with only one hospital provider, there is no incentive to decrease chargemaster rates for the uninsured. For example, a hospital can charge $15,000 for a procedure which on average would cost $4000-$5000 to a healthcare insurance company. The state of Colorado has an excessively high expenditure for hospital care and we are ranked number one for profit per admission. Getting to know this system is one way to educate LWV members on upcharging and the negative impact it has on uninsured patients in their county.

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