MADISON, Wis. (WRN) — A bipartisan bill at the Capitol would allow consumers to know some health care costs upfront.
The Price Transparency for Patients Bill gets a public hearing before a state Senate committee today. Senator Julian Bradley of New Berlin says it requires providers to let patients see upfront costs for “shop-able” services.
“So, like an MRI or an X-ray blood work, anything that’s essentially a non-emergency service that they need to get done, they can find out ahead of time what the price will be and shop a little bit and try to save some money,” Bradley said.
Bradley notes the idea of price transparency polls extremely well with voters. Most Wisconsin health systems and the Wisconsin Hospital Association have registered against the measure.
“The lobbying effort and opposition to this is strong and and I don’t understand it,” he said.
The bill will need to pass both chambers of the Legislature before the current session ends this spring.