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Price-transparency bill prompts hospital opposition; insurance department neutral
Summary
Representative Julie Soti told the House Health Committee that HB 743 would require more upfront pricing and clearer notice to patients; hospital representatives warned the bill would duplicate federal rules and add regulatory burden, while the Insurance Department cautioned that price files and claims data are complex and not directly comparable.
Representative Julie Soti, prime sponsor of House Bill 743, told the committee the bill is intended to require upfront pricing and greater transparency for health care services, modeled in part on recent legislation in Maine and other states. She said constituents had reported surprise bills with little breakdown and she urged the committee to consider a statutory approach that would give consumers clearer price information before they receive non'emergency care.
Ben Bradley of the New Hampshire Hospital Association testified in opposition. Bradley said federal hospital price'transparency regulations (CMS rules) already require hospitals to publish machine'readable files of standard charges and give two options for consumer price estimates. He said federal enforcement exists and that state'level duplication could create conflicting standards, raise costs and increase regulatory burden, and that New Hampshire already publishes a state health cost comparison site through the Insurance Department.
Jason Aziz, director of health economics at the New Hampshire Insurance Department, said the department has no formal position on HB 743 but warned the committee that hospital and insurer transparency files use different reporting criteria and are not directly comparable to consumer'friendly estimates. Aziz explained that insurers and hospitals report machine'readable reference files for researchers and regulators while claims data reflect the empirical prices consumers actually pay; those data streams are often inconsistent and misleading to a lay user. Aziz also noted separate legislation, HB 705, that addresses insurer reporting and recommended the committee consider coordinating state actions with the federal framework.
Representative McLean and other members asked why pharmacists were excluded and whether the bill accomplished things the federal No Surprises Act already covers. Soti said federal protections are incomplete for many insured consumers and that the proposed state rules would add consumer notice for items and services not captured by federal statutes.
The committee did not vote on HB 743 at the hearing. The discussion highlighted the technical complexity of price'reporting rules and the challenge of crafting state law that improves consumer clarity without duplicating or conflicting with federal requirements.
