The prices New York City hospitals charge for healthcare services—which can vary greatly for the same procedure—could soon be posted on a government-run watchdog website.
A proposal that is working its way through the New York City Council calls for the creation of an Office of Healthcare Accountability, which would post the costs of procedures at city hospitals along with cost transparency summaries for each facility on a new website (with the goal of reducing healthcare prices). The city-level office would also be tasked with auditing city expenditures on employee-related health costs and making recommendations, among other responsibilities.
City Council member Julie Menin, a Manhattan Democrat and sponsor of the legislation, said the proposal is similar to transparency and accountability models adopted by other states, like California. But it would make New York City among the first cities in the nation to have a healthcare accountability office, she added.
Members of Mayor Eric Adams’s administration have generally signaled support for the bill, but they’ve taken issue with its proposed oversight and audit rights of city worker health costs. Menin said she’s in negotiations with the mayor’s office and expects “the bill to move forward.”
Adams spokesperson Kate Smart said the mayor’s office “look[s] forward to working with all of our partners in the council to ensure every New Yorker has access to quality and affordable healthcare, and increase hospital price transparency.”
Groups like the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) have also pushed back on the proposal.
David Rich, GNYHA’s EVP of government affairs, communications, and public policy, argued in testimony before City Council members that every city hospital already publishes pricing information. He called the proposal “inappropriate and unnecessary” given federal price transparency rules.
Menin spoke with Healthcare Brew about the proposal, and how it could affect healthcare costs if adopted.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Can you tell me about the genesis of this bill?
There’s a huge price disparity and discrepancies. Consumers have no idea of what they’re going to be charged before they go to the hospital. We need to have this kind of transparency, so that patients throughout New York City know in advance what they’re going to be charged by hospitals.
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In addition, the bill helps because the City of New York is spending close to $11 billion on public sector employee healthcare—and just in 2017, we spent $6 billion—so you can see the costs keep rising and rising to truly unsustainable levels. This bill will allow the City of New York to harness its purchasing power to drive down costs. That’s very important from a fiscal standpoint.
Why is this measure needed given the recent federal healthcare cost transparency laws?
Federal rules were passed that mandate that hospitals have to provide transparency, but studies [from groups like PatientRightsAdvocate.org] show that only 6% of hospitals in New York are complying. That is a woefully dismal rate. This is why we need this legislation.
Does the proposal have any enforcement mechanism?
The City Council cannot regulate hospitals, only the state can. But the city gives out discretionary grants to hospitals for equipment. If we have situations where hospitals are receiving poor grades because they’re not complying with this bill, that obviously will come into play as to whether or not the City Council would want to give discretionary grants. That is one of the ways that this measure really has teeth.
What is your ultimate goal in pushing this proposal?
It’s the right thing to do for consumers. Medical debt is one of the largest areas of debt that people have. When you go to the hospital, you’re at your most vulnerable. At the end of the day, you get this bill and you have no idea in advance what you’re about to be charged for a procedure that you need. There is simply no other industry where you're procuring a service, and you don’t know what it is that you’re going to be charged.