Price Transparency Fines Become Reality



CMS has issued the first fines for violating the hospital price transparency rule. The recipients of these historic fines are Northside Hospital Atlanta in Atlanta, GA and Northside Hospital Cherokee in Canton, GA. These fines came after CMS issued both Requests for Corrective Action Plan (CAP) and warning notices to the hospitals in 2021. It was the lack of a CAP submission from the hospitals that most likely triggered the monetary penalties of $833,180 and $214,320 for Atlanta and Cherokee, respectively. CMS may also issue additional fines if the price transparency rule violation is not corrected.

This seven figure fine shows CMS is taking price transparency noncompliance seriously and will go after the hospitals’ bottom lines if necessary. While a million dollars is relatively small compared to the billion dollar revenue of most large hospitals, the fine is also several times the expense required to produce the price transparency files and data. These fines also create legal expenses for hospitals that choose to fight them in court and bad publicity as most consumers agree with more price transparency in healthcare.

For hospitals who have not committed to price transparency compliance, the risk of monetary penalties is no longer theoretical. CMS has fired its first warning shot with these fines against Northside Atlanta and Northside Cherokee. But it’s also not too late as, with proper guidance, a hospital can quickly and efficiently create the necessary files so to avoid the hassle of dealing with CMS fines and court proceedings.

1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/09/two-hospitals-are-being-fined-disobeying-price-transparency-rules/