Jesse Ellis O'Brien
OSPIRG
Today, an Oregon Senate Committee will hear public testimony for the first time on two pieces of legislation with very different approaches to making health care price information more widely available. To clarify what is at stake, OSPIRG has released a white paper (pdf) outlining the key differences between the two proposals.
Senate Bill 891, supported by OSPIRG and a coalition of consumer advocates, small businesses and health care providers, would require Oregon health care facilities to post their own prices publicly, like other businesses, and provide real-time price estimates on request.
Senate Bill 900, supported by the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems and the state’s top health insurance companies, would require the state to set up a website with aggregated data about average amounts collected by Oregon hospitals for the most common health care procedures.
Key findings of OSPIRG’s paper (pdf):
“With Oregonians picking up an ever-greater portion of their own health care costs in the form of higher deductibles and coinsurance, it’s more important than ever for consumers to know the price of health care up front,” said OSPIRG Health Care Advocate Jesse O’Brien. “We all know that health care still costs too much. The least we can do is make sure health care facilities post their prices, like any other business. SB 891 is an important step in the right direction.”
The two bills will be heard in the State Senate Committee on Health Care beginning at 3:00 PM in Hearing Room A in the Oregon Capitol, and can be livestreamed via the Committee’s website.
For more information about SB 891, check OSPIRG’s fact sheet.
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OSPIRG is a non-profit, non-partisan statewide consumer organization. Please visit us at www.ospirg.org