Attorney General David Yost intends to appeal a judge’s decision to block a health care transparency law that requires physicians and other health care professionals to give patients an up-front, good faith estimate of the cost of care to be provided. The price transparency language was added at the eleventh hour to a workers’ compensation budget bill and has never gone into effect because of court filings. Health care organizations contend that the legislative language is poorly written and impossible to implement.
In February, a Williams County Common Pleas Court judge issued a permanent injunction against the price transparency law. According to the judge, the legislation entirely pertained to workers’ compensation when it passed the Ohio House and Senate but the price transparency amendment was added by Representative Jim Butler (R-Oakwood, OH) without benefit of any hearings or public input.
The Kasich administration never created rules to attempt to implement the law. The legislative language states that rules should be created by the Ohio Department of Medicaid to address not only Medicaid but also private insurers. Medicaid has no authority over insurers offering healthcare coverage for non-Medicaid patients.
The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians has long stated that the legislative language as passed is unworkable and impossible to implement. The Ohio State Medical Association and the Ohio Hospital Association agree.