House committee advances hospital billing legislation

The House Education and Workforce Committee May 21 unanimously passed the Transparency in Billing Act (H.R. 8684). The bill would require off-campus hospital outpatient departments to obtain a separate unique health identifier and include it on all claims for services billed to commercial group health plans or their enrollees. The legislation would prohibit the health plan from paying the claim and the hospital from collecting payment from the plan enrollee if the claim excludes the identifier, and it would impose civil monetary penalties on hospitals that violate the requirement.

The AHA has previously opposed this policy, saying that hospitals are already transparent about the location of care delivery on their bills and that it would create a significant administrative burden to providers and the health care industry at large.