New laws aim to make hospital bills clearer for patients

Published: Monday, July 29, 2013 at 07:48 PM.

Starting in June 2014, patients in North Carolina are going to have a much easier time dealing with hospitals across the state when it comes to bills.

On Thursday, the General Assembly passed HB 834 with a 103-10 vote, forcing hospital bills to be simplified without any unclear codes or medical terminology. Also, hospitals have to give written notice before sending patients to a collection agency, and can’t send them there if the consumer is requesting charity care.

“That was one very non-controversial bill,” Rep. Debra Conrad, R-Forsyth, said. “The hospitals agreed to it and it will work out for patients. For patients, the bills will be more clarifying and it gives them the opportunity to arrange payments and protect personal homes from being taken by the hospitals.”

Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, was the biggest supporter of the bill. He said reducing the cost of health care had been one of the directions the General Assembly was trying to travel to since 2010.

“When finding a way to lower state health care, everyone has to come together,” Rucho said. “When health care is rising faster than inflation, we need medical providers, hospitals, consumers insurance, the legislature and of course, the patients to make meaningful reductions.”

Rucho also said customers will be more in control with where they plan on going to fulfill hospital needs in the state.

“A consumer can now go to another hospital and get the same procedure for lower rates,” Rucho said. “It’s like going to Best Buy or Walmart; they can check the quality and price, then make their final decision. Everything will be online, so they’ll know.”

Starting in June 2014, patients in North Carolina are going to have a much easier time dealing with hospitals across the state when it comes to bills.

On Thursday, the General Assembly passed HB 834 with a 103-10 vote, forcing hospital bills to be simplified without any unclear codes or medical terminology. Also, hospitals have to give written notice before sending patients to a collection agency, and can’t send them there if the consumer is requesting charity care.

“That was one very non-controversial bill,” Rep. Debra Conrad, R-Forsyth, said. “The hospitals agreed to it and it will work out for patients. For patients, the bills will be more clarifying and it gives them the opportunity to arrange payments and protect personal homes from being taken by the hospitals.”

Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, was the biggest supporter of the bill. He said reducing the cost of health care had been one of the directions the General Assembly was trying to travel to since 2010.

“When finding a way to lower state health care, everyone has to come together,” Rucho said. “When health care is rising faster than inflation, we need medical providers, hospitals, consumers insurance, the legislature and of course, the patients to make meaningful reductions.”

Rucho also said customers will be more in control with where they plan on going to fulfill hospital needs in the state.

“A consumer can now go to another hospital and get the same procedure for lower rates,” Rucho said. “It’s like going to Best Buy or Walmart; they can check the quality and price, then make their final decision. Everything will be online, so they’ll know.”

Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, believed the bill was necessary in making costs easy to identify by patients.

“I think many people understand trying to interpret bills can be extremely challenging and there needs to be a clear and concise billing system for the consumer,” McKissick said.

Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake, agreed, saying he supported the bill for the transparencies brought to the consumers.

“The bill creates protection against unfair bill practices by the hospitals in the state,” Stein said. “Also, by getting hospitals to connect with the Health Information Exchange, it can help Medicaid potentially save money in the long run.”

Gary Black — president and CEO Lenoir Memorial Hospital — sent a statement to The Free Press saying, “We are aware that the vast majority of the Lenoir Memorial hospital’s charges are below the state average. We support transparency. Most of this information is already available to the public and hospitals continue to work to provide meaningful information in the future. We do feel that we have a responsibility to those that do pay, to ensure that we are collecting from those who have the means to pay but choose not to do so.

“Lenoir Memorial annually writes off over 30 million dollars in uncompensated care, much of which is for care provided to community members who have no insurance and can’t afford to pay for care.”

Attorney General Roy Cooper was supportive of the bill, saying the General Assembly wanted the consumers to have bills and policies easier to comprehend.

“Many legislatures heard from constituents frustrated with indecipherable jargon,” Cooper said. “I’ve also seen instances where some hospitals filed too late for insurance reimbursement, didn’t get it and charged the patient anyway. Before legislation passed, hospitals didn’t have to give an itemized bill 30 days after being discharged. Also, they didn’t have to refund for overpayments or billing errors within 45 days. This bill gives the consumer more straightforward information.”

Cooper didn’t agree with one decision the General Assembly made, as it wouldn’t expand Medicaid to 500,000 North Carolina citizens.

“The legislature could’ve expanded Medicaid to half a million North Carolinians, and that would’ve helped the hospitals,” Cooper said. “Still, we were concerned with transparency and pleased the legislature did that.”

Although the General Assembly could make a move on expanding Medicaid, Cooper doesn’t see it happening in the near future.

“They would have to call themselves in session before May, which looks doubtful at this point,” Cooper said.

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.