Maine hospitals reject report finding them noncompliant with price disclosure rules

Maine (WABI) - A new report finds Maine hospitals need to be more transparent about their prices.

Hospitals are now expected to comply with rules intended to empower patients.

Roughly the same rate in Maine, with only 2 of the 11 hospitals examined rated compliant...Maine General in Augusta and St. Joseph’s in Bangor.

The critique of the other nine...including MaineHealth’s Maine Med in Portland and Northern Light’s Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor is that their standard charges posted online don’t list every cost and every contractually adjusted insurance price for every service.

“That prevents us as consumers from getting readily available access to prices in advance of our care,” Founder and chair of Patient Rights Advocate Cynthia Fisher said. “It prevents us from being able to shop and for the best quality of care at the best prices. Anyone would want to know where they can get an MRI for $300 versus paying $3,000.”

Patient Rights advocate says 90-percent of hospital visits are planned...

which makes the availability of true hospital prices, including adjustments for insurance, all the more valuable.

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