(Denver, CO) -- Starting this week, you'll know what you owe. A piece of bi-partisian legislation goes into effect in the state of Colorado. The following news release is from the state of Colorado concerning House Bill 22-1285.
DENVER - Beginning on August 10th, bipartisan legislation HB22-1285 signed into law by Governor Polis and sponsored by House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar and Representative Patrick Neville and Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno and Senator John Cooke will take effect across the state. This transformative initiative protects consumers and ensures hospitals in Colorado are complying with the federal hospital transparency law, improving surprise medical billing protections, and saving people money.
“People deserve to know what all their medical bills will look like and finally we will have better price transparency which is needed for the market to work better in health care and empower patients to take control of their own healthcare needs,” said Gov. Polis. “This is a great step in improving the healthcare system to ensure affordable, high-quality care for all Coloradans And saving people money.”
HB22-1285 ensures Colorado hospitals are in compliance with federal transparency laws and prohibits hospitals that were not in compliance at the time of treatment from collecting debts from patients.
"Our law puts patients over profits and puts us one step closer to a health care system that is open and honest about medical costs," said Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. "Under our law, Coloradans will save money on health care because they'll know the costs upfront and hospitals will be required to follow the rules when it comes to their billing—which means more protections for patients. I'm proud to stand behind this important hospital price transparency law because it's a powerful tool for patients and keeps our health care system in check."
The bipartisan law allows patients who believe a hospital was not in compliance with federal laws to file a lawsuit to have their debt forgiven and other fees covered. The law also requires hospitals to post standard prices on a public website to increase transparency and accountability.
"With our price transparency law, patients will be more protected from surprise medical bills that can cost them hundreds if not thousands of dollars," said Rep. Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock. "Improving price transparency protects patients, cuts costs and limits the ways hospitals not in compliance with federal law can collect medical debt. Our bipartisan law is common sense and puts patients first."
“According to federal law, hospitals are required to be transparent about the price of services they provide their patients,” said Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City. “We passed a bipartisan bill that prevents Colorado's hospitals from sending medical debt to collections if they are out of compliance with these requirements, and I’m proud to see this law go into effect so Coloradans can make the best healthcare decisions for themselves and their families.”
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