Marissa Plescia | April 4, 2022
As of March, CMS had sent “about 345” warning notices to hospitals noncompliant with its price transparency regulations, the agency responded after a Becker’s request for this information.
CMS has the authority to request a corrective action plan if it finds that a hospital is not compliant with one or more of the requirements of the rule designed to inform people what a hospital charges for items and services it provides. CMS can issue a civil monetary penalty if a hospital does not respond to its request.
The agency has made 136 corrective action plan requests to hospitals since Jan. 1, 2021, the year the rule went into effect. Hospitals are asked for corrective action plans when they receive warning notices but haven’t made corrections.
Since the rule went into effect, 124 hospitals have had their cases closed after they addressed citations, CMS said.
CMS has not issued any penalties to hospitals, it said. The maximum penalty for noncompliance is $2 million.
CMS will publicly name hospitals that have received monetary penalties on its website. Those that have only received notices will not be named, CMS said.
“Releasing this information prematurely could identify hospitals that have already taken corrective actions and come into compliance after issuance of a warning notice,” the agency said.
As of February, CMS had sent 342 warning notices to hospitals and 124 requests for corrective action plans. Seventy-seven hospitals had their cases closed after addressing citations.
Source: Becker’s Healthcare