A proposed Indiana bill seeks to revoke the nonprofit status of a hospital if it charges patients more than 200% of the Medicare reimbursement rate, WANE reported Jan. 16.
Hospitals would be required to provide the Indiana Department of Health with an annual report that includes aggregate data on all billed services and items and a comparison of their respective Medicare reimbursement rates. County hospitals would be exempt from the legislation.
According to the legislation, nonprofit hospitals would be subject to an annual audit by the secretary of state. Hospitals would also be required to provide the healthcare cost oversight task force with the entirety of the previous year's Schedule H portion of the federal Form 990. Those forms would be published on the general assembly's website.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Martin Carbaugh, said that the legislation might look "vastly different" when it reaches the governor's desk, but it starts an "adult conversation," according to the report.
The Indiana Hospital Association said it looks forward to working with lawmakers and the governor to find "meaningful solutions."
"Hospitals continue to implement cost reduction strategies to make care more affordable and a recent report from the Indiana General Assembly shows prices are moving in the right direction," the organization said in a statement.
Beth Lock, director of government and legislative affairs at Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Parkview Health told the news outlet that the system looks forward to "working with the Indiana General Assembly to evaluate the impact this bill may have on nonprofit hospitals and find meaningful solutions to lower the cost of healthcare."