Beginning on January 1, 2019, Medicare has begun requiring hospitals to disclose all pricing information online and make electronic medical records easier to access for patients due to a new bill called the “Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rule.” This new bill will also require pricing to be put online in a machine-readable format to be easily processed by computers. Additionally, the program also will start a comprehensive review for how to pay for new forms of immunotherapy for cancer treatment (KUTV).

    Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced that the new online price requirement will reflect the Trump Administration’s efforts for transparency in healthcare for U.S. citizens. ¨We know that hospitals have this [pricing] information, and we’re asking them to post what they have online,” Verma stated in a recent interview.

    Patients concerned about their potential out-of-pocket costs for hospital stays and surgeries will still, however, be advised to consult with insurance representatives. Most common insurance plans will have limits on how much people must pay for copays and deductibles.

    The Trump Administration has also been working on designing secure apps to allow patients access to their records from all providers. This new app would allow for ease of access for all patients, rather than requiring them to go through multiple portals.