Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Health Services. A violation of those provisions is a misdemeanor.
The existing Payers’ Bill of Rights requires each hospital to compile a list of the charges for 25 services or procedures commonly charged to patients. Beginning July 1, 2004, existing law requires each hospital to make that list available to any person upon request and to file the list annually with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
This bill would recast those provisions to require each hospital to compile a list of the average charges for 25 common outpatient procedures
and the 25 most common inpatient procedures, as grouped by Medicare diagnostic‑related group (DRG), and to submit these lists to the office. The bill would require each hospital to provide a list of average charges for outpatient procedures to the office and would require the office to publish this information on its Internet Web site. The bill would require certain information to be updated by the office at least annually.
Existing law authorizes the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to compile a list of the 10 most common Medicare DRGs and the average charge for each of these DRGs per hospital and to publish that information on its Internet Web site.
This bill would repeal those provisions.
Except for the provision of emergency services, this bill would require a hospital, upon the request of a person with no health coverage, to provide the person with a written estimate of the amount the hospital will require the person to pay for the health care services, procedures, and supplies that are reasonably expected to be provided to the person by the hospital and
an application for financial assistance or charity care.
This bill would provide that any hospital that does not file the information required by the Payers’ Bill of Rights may be liable for civil penalties.
By changing existing duties of a hospital, the bill would change the definition of a crime, and would thereby impose a state‑mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.