MN HF4450

Amends Minnesota Statutes section 62J.823 to require hospitals and outpatient surgical centers to provide written or electronic cost estimates upon patient request, including the calculation method, relevant procedure codes, and a disclaimer that actual charges may differ.

Hospitals must publish machine-readable files containing all standard charges, including payer-specific negotiated charges, in compliance with federal requirements under 42 U.S.C. section 300gg-18 and Code of Federal Regulations title 45, part 180.

Hospitals must make publicly available lists of standard charges for shoppable services (services that can be scheduled in advance) in plain language and easily accessible format under federal regulations 45 CFR 180.60.

Hospitals must retain machine-readable pricing files for the previous five years in a form and manner specified by Minnesota IT Services in consultation with the commissioner of health.

Noncompliance penalties include daily fines of $300 for hospitals with 30 or fewer beds, $10 per bed for hospitals with 31-550 beds, and up to $5,500 daily for hospitals with more than 550 beds; the commissioner may suspend a hospital's license for failing to comply for two consecutive years.