Indiana hospitals should hold annual meetings to explain prices, consumer group says

Are Indiana hospitals doing everything possible to be keep prices affordable and be transparent about how they set their prices?

A local group called Hoosiers for Affordable Healthcare says hospitals could be doing better and should explain their prices to the public on a regular basis.

The group is pushing an amendment to a piece of legislation advancing through the Indiana General Assembly that would require most of Indiana’s hospitals to hold annual public meetings to explain their prices, including any price increases, and to take questions about their finances.

The amendment is filed on House Bill 1421, a bill that covers a wide assortment of health care matters. It has not been heard in a committee or had public input, and comes late in the legislative process. The amendment’s author, Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, did not return several calls to discuss the amendment.

House Bill 1421 passed the House by a vote 91-0 without the amendment and is now sitting in the Senate, awaiting a second reading, the step where amendments are considered. It’s unclear when the bill and Messmer’s amendment will be called for consideration.

It’s the latest effort by Indiana consumer and employer groups to call attention to the high cost of health care in Indiana compared to other states.

A study released last year by the Rand Corp. found that Hoosiers covered by employer health plans paid Indiana hospitals three times—or 304%—of what Medicare would have paid for the same procedures, exceeding the national rate of disparity.

The study also said Indiana ranks sixth in the nation for hospital price disparities—ahead of New York, California, Massachusetts and other larger states with higher cost of living—when it comes to what privately insured people pay for care compared to what Medicare would have paid for the same service.

Medicare typically pays less than private health plans, and hospitals often count on privately insured patients for much of their revenue and profit.

Hoosiers for Affordable Healthcare, a group chaired by Al Hubbard, co-founder of E&A Industries and former director of the National Economic Council under President George W. Bush, is pushing for more transparency and accountability.

“We think that it’s important that those hospital systems have a conversation with their community about why the cost of hospital care is so high,” said Matt Bell, spokesman for the group. “We think that’s part of their purpose, part of their mission. We think that that level of transparency and openness at the local level only benefits patients, communities and employers.”

On its website, the group also advocates for health insurance companies to hold annual meetings to hear feedback from the community about their performance and premiums. But that is not part of the amendment now pending consideration.

The Indiana hospital industry, for its part, says it has already taken huge steps in transparency in recent years.

Under federal law, all hospitals are now required to post prices for hundreds of procedures on their websites, including information about how much it charges under various health plans.

Under state law, hospitals also file detailed financial information each year with the Indiana State Department of Health, which posts the filings on its website.

The Indiana Hospital Association said it has supported numerous pieces of consumer legislation in recent years, including a bill that took effect last year that helps consumers avoid getting a surprise bill from an out-of-network doctor.

“We embrace transparency,” said Brian Tabor, president of the Indiana Hospital Association. “A meeting might be one way to provide information to the public, but there are certainly other ways as well. … We want to make sure it’s not duplicative of other information that’s already there.”

Messmer’s amendment would exempt critical-access hospitals, a designation given to certain rural hospitals with no more than 25 beds, and for-profit hospitals, which pay taxes. But it would apply to more than 100 hospital systems across the state, including some of the largest and wealthiest, such as Indiana University Health.

Spokesmen for several large Indiana hospital systems, including IU Health and Franciscan Health, declined to comment, referring questions to the hospital association.