On November 15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized policy changes to the CY 2020 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) on price transparency requirements for hospitals. This final rule establishes requirements for hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other rural hospitals, to make public a machine-readable file online that includes all standard charges along with discounted cash prices, payer-specific negotiated charges, and de-identified minimum and maximum negotiated charges for a set of “shoppable services.” CMS is finalizing that the effective date of the final rule will be January 1, 2021, to ensure that hospitals have the time to be compliant with these policies.
