Committee advances hospital price-transparency bill after amendment to centralize reporting and require portal

The Senate committee considered a committee substitute for Senate Bill 718 that would require hospitals to file annual financial reports and detailed charge information with the West Virginia Insurance Commission and would make parts of that information publicly available through a web-based portal. Committee members adopted an amendment to centralize reporting with the insurance commissioner, require a portal with a comparison tool, and move the effective date to allow time for implementation; the substitute as amended was adopted and reported to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.

Committee counsel described the bill as a transparency measure that would require hospitals to submit statements of assets, liabilities, income and expenses, the chargemaster (schedule of rates), statements of ownership for persons with more than 5% ownership, copies of federal reports filed with CMS, lists of charges that exceed $150,000 and other specified materials. Counsel said the insurance commissioner would have authority to protect confidential or proprietary information while preserving the ability to analyze and compare rates by payer and procedure. The counsel also stated the measure includes rulemaking authority for general rulemaking and confidentiality-specific rules.

Hospital and industry testimony emphasized that much of the requested data is already submitted to existing bodies. Jim Kaufman, president and CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association, told the committee the state Health Care Authority already collects annual financial statements and chargemasters and that federal price-transparency rules require hospitals to publish shoppable services and price estimators on their websites. Kaufman warned duplication could impose administrative burdens and costs on hospitals. He said some hospitals produce extensive files under federal rules — large spreadsheets with many rows and columns — and that insurers are often best placed to provide patients with individualized out-of-pocket estimates.

Advocacy and policy witnesses urged stronger transparency and consumer tools. Josh Rochampo of the Cicero Institute said greater reporting would provide insight for employers and the uninsured, improve visibility on uncompensated and charity care, and enable policy actions such as reference-based pricing that have reduced costs in some other states. He recommended public reporting of cash rates and better rewards for patients who choose lower-cost options.

Committee amendment and implementation concerns: Senators debated duplication with existing reporting to the Health Care Authority and the complexity of producing apples-to-apples cost comparisons given differences in payer contracts, plan designs, DRG and procedure variation, and geographic market conditions. The committee adopted an amendment to repeal the Health Care Authority reporting requirement and direct filing to the insurance commissioner instead; the amendment also clarified the statute should require a web portal with a consumer comparison tool and moved the bill's effective date to July 1, 2026, to allow the insurance commissioner time to staff or contract for portal development. The insurance commissioner’s office testified it lacks current staff capacity to build such a portal and would likely need to contract for development and add staff or expertise to vet and analyze hospital financial submissions.

Outcome and next steps: The committee adopted the committee substitute as amended by voice vote and reported the measure to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass. The transcript records extensive committee discussion, testimony from the West Virginia Hospital Association and from policy groups, an amendment directing centralized reporting to the insurance commissioner and the creation of a comparison tool, and the committee’s adoption of the measure and report motion by voice vote; no numeric roll-call tallies are recorded in the transcript.

What to watch: If enacted, the insurance commissioner would need to define technical reporting formats and confidentiality protections in rulemaking and to stand up or contract for a public portal capable of comparing facility rates by payer and procedure, adjusted as appropriate for plan design and patient circumstances.