SPRINGFIELD – The federal government has told more than 500 hospitals they are failing to provide the public with basic price information, including two facilities in Springfield.
The Trump administration argues lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be, according to an Associated Press report.
One facility in Springfield received a warning notice while the other received request for a correction action plan.
The list of hospitals obtained by the AP includes hospitals that received warning or a corrective action plan since April.
Springfield hospitals on the list
Here are two facilities in Springfield that were listed:
Voicemails were left with a representative for Lincoln Prairie Behavioral Health Center, but the voicemails were not returned.
Reached by The State Journal-Register, Mary Massingale, who is system manager for communications and public relations for the Hospital Sisters Health System, said in a statement that the hospital resolved a “technical formatting issue on our website,” adding that “prices were accurate and continue to be accessible to consumers.”
Massingale confirmed that the hospital received communication from the Trump administration in the spring.
What happens if hospitals do not comply?
Each recipient of a warning that does not create a plan to post clear pricing data may be penalized as high as $2 million, according to the AP report.
The legality or mechanism for those penalizations is not immediately clear.
More about what President Trump is trying to do
According to the AP report, the letters are meant to fix “a fundamental problem” that patients, employers and insurers may not know costs ahead of time that they should, such as the cost of blood work, an imaging test, or another form of treatment. As a result, people could be paying more than they should.
Tom Ackerman covers breaking news and trending news along with general news for the Springfield State Journal-Register. He can be reached at tackerman@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Trump tells Springfield hospital it needs more price transparency
Reporting by Tom Ackerman, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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By Tom Ackerman, Springfield State Journal-Register | USA TODAY Network
