Regarding the recent Becker article:
"CMS may require hospitals to post price, payer negotiated rates online — what does it mean for ASCs?", which can be accessed using the following URL: https://www.beckersasc.com/asc-coding-billing-and-collections/cms-may-require-hospitals-to-post-price-payer-negotiated-rates-online-what-does-it-mean-for-ascs.html
Jeff Shanton, President of NJAASC, says, "This is already a reality for ASCs in some states. In June 2018, New Jersey passed the 'Out- of- Network Consumer Protection, Transparency, Cost Containment and Accountability Act' (N.J.S.A. 26:2SS-1). NJAASC and a broad coalition of New Jersey health care organizations opposed this law for some eight years, and indeed successfully negotiated it to a point where it is now much more acceptable for health care providers.
NJAASC is not opposed to disclosure, indeed we embrace it, but the law was, and to some extent still is, about other things that have nothing to do with disclosure and transparency, and we feel detrimental to health care providers out-of-network in particular.
The New Jersey Department of health is required under the law to promulgate rules and disclosure forms via the rules making process. After over one year, the department has so far only issued interim rules and forms.
Part of this law requires ASCs to: "in a form that is consistent with federal guidelines, a health care facility shall make available to the public a list of the facility's standard charges for items and services provided by the facility." Interim guidance issued by Department of Health has added to the above clause: "in a form consistent with federal guidelines implementing section 2718(e ) of the Federal Public Service Health Act." The department also interprets the law to require all ASCs to have a website.
Thus in our opinion, the department is utilizing a federal guideline for hospitals posting of charges, the Federal Public Service Health Act (which is nowhere referenced in the New Jersey OON law), and requiring ASCs to have a website, which is again not found in the New Jersey OON law. While NJAASC disagrees with these departmental interpretations and has urged the department to more clearly include language about websites and posting charges in their final promulgation, one thing is clear: the law does require disclosure/posting of ASC standard charges, but not negotiated rates, in some way, shape or form.
So at least as regards New Jersey, it is already here."