On July 18, Governor Mike DeWine, prior to signing the state budget bill into law, vetoed two concerning provisions that made it into the two-year spending plan. Those provisions, which threatened to impede patient access to needed health care, pertain to health care price transparency and surprise billing.
Health Care Price Transparency – Physicians and other healthcare professionals certainly support price transparency proposals that give patients meaningful information but that information must be provided under a practical, workable structure. Unfortunately, the price transparency provisions included in Am. Sub. House Bill 166 contained onerous requirements that can best be described as impractical and unworkable. These provisions establish timelines that are impossible to comply with, that seem to assume communication between clinicians and payers is completely automated, and creates massive administrative burdens on physicians and hospitals which would result in delayed patient care.
In his veto message, Gov. DeWine asked stakeholders to continue to work to find a reasonable solution that is workable for physicians, hospitals, and other health care professionals and that advances enhanced price transparency so that patients can make better informed decisions about their health care.
Surprise Billing – Ohio’s physicians and hospital systems support efforts to relieve the burden of surprise medical bills, but the consensus among medical organizations was the language enacted had not been thoroughly vetted and left more questions than answers creating the potential of serious unintended consequences. Stakeholders have pledged to find a solution that protects patients from surprise medical bills by incentivizing fair initial offers from insurers, discourages exorbitant bill charges, and encouraged insure accountability and transparency.
In his veto message, Gov. DeWine cited current surprise billing efforts at the federal level stating, “As the federal government develops these efforts and others, it is important that the state not place duplicative or burdensome regulations on health care providers, as these compliance costs will inevitability be passed on to the citizens of this state as consumers of health care.”
In addition, Gov. DeWine signed an executive order to help improve health care price transparency, address surprise medical billing, and expand access to health care data. This executive order reinforces the Presidential Executive Order Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States while preventing burdensome duplicative regulations on Ohio health care professionals.