"The Christian Church is called to be an active participant in fashioning a just and effective health care system. Responding to those who were sick was integral to the life and ministry of Jesus and has been a central aspect of the Church's mission throughout its history. Health care and healing are concrete manifestations of God's ongoing care for and redemption of all creation." - From the ELCA Social Statement Caring For Health: Our Shared Endeavor (2003)
Pennsylvania patients face major challenges in finding clear, reliable information about the cost of care. When patients receive care, they often can’t find information in advance about what they’ll pay. SB752 and HB1469 represent a bipartisan approach to filling in those gaps to ensure information about prices and fees is easily accessible and complete.
As people of faith, we know that caring for our health and the health of others includes protecting people from unnecessary harm, confusion, and financial hardship. Transparency on hospital prices and facility fees allows patients to compare prices across facilities, check their bills against price estimates, plan how they will pay, and avoid facility fees. Patients need to be able to find, understand, and trust price information in order to make good decisions about their care, using a reasonable amount of time, effort, and skill.
Recent analysis shows that there is real potential for patients to save money on common medical procedures by shopping around. The highest local price for routine procedures is, on average, 19 times higher than the lowest local price. For patients with deductibles or patients who must pay a percent of their care costs, this could mean saving hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Unfortunately, it is not always possible for patients to find prices for common procedures. Identifying the “real” price estimate was often confusing or impossible, and comparison shopping is not yet easy for patients. Going through insurance adds another layer of complexity and confusion to figuring out what care will cost. Only 1 in 3 Pennsylvania hospitals reviewed provided all the information a patient would need to make an informed decision about their care.
With a growing number of Pennsylvania patients footing more of the bill for their care, and medical debt on the rise, this bipartisan legislation could address accountability and consistency with federal rules and ensure patients have complete pricing information – including often unexpected “facility fees” that are commonly not covered by insurance.
Enter your information in the form to the right, and you'll be taken to an editable letter to send to your state senator to urge them to support SB 752 / HB 1469. Please include a note or story about any personal experience or that of a loved one and explain why protecting access to health care is important to you. Follow the links to SB752 and HB1469 to see if your lawmakers are bill sponsors and be sure to thank them if they are!
Thank you for your advocacy!
