House Bill 497 Summary

• Requires all patients visiting Idaho hospitals and surgical centers to receive itemized reports of average charges upon request, both before treatment and at discharge, including insurance estimates.

• Mandates hospitals and surgical centers respond within 3 business days with cost estimates for specific procedures, admissions, or services for self-paying, uninsured, or out-of-network patients, with alert that unforeseen services may change final costs.

• Directs the Department of Health and Welfare to accept proposals by December 1, 2014, for developing a website and mobile application displaying pricing data for the 50 most common inpatient/outpatient non-surgical procedures and 25 most common surgical procedures by county, plus links to quality ratings and nonprofit hospital financial information.

• Requires hospitals and surgical centers to submit quarterly data beginning October 1, 2014, including patient admission/discharge data, emergency department data, hospital-acquired infections, complications, readmissions, and actual charges and reimbursement rates from all payers.

• Prohibits "gag clauses" in agreements from preventing disclosure of negotiated price information; maintains patient confidentiality under HIPAA; establishes appeal procedures for investigation costs; authorizes license probation, suspension, or revocation for non-compliance.