The bill, sponsored by Sen. Irene Aguilar, MD, (D-Denver), would also prohibit hospitals from billing patients more than the hospital’s cost of providing care. Hospitals must estimate the cost of providing care by multiplying the hospital’s usual total charges for a service by its overall cost-to-charge ratio.
Previously, the bill (pdf) would have required hospitals to discount charges to any patient that has a family income of no more than 400 percent of the FPL. Although hospital charity care guidelines are required on Form 990s and within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Sen. Aguilar said the goal of the bill is to eliminate completely the chance a patient could be forced into bankruptcy from excessive hospital costs.
SB134 passed in a 28 to 6 vote in the Senate, and it now heads to the House, according to the report.
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