A new federal rule will require all hospitals to post a master list of prices online detailing the services they provide so people can review them.
Starting Jan. 1, every hospital nationwide will be required to post standard charges online for every item and every service they provide.. everything from drugs and casts to organ transplants and anesthesia.
This requirement was originally introduced in the Affordable Care Act of 2010.
In years past, hospitals have been mum when it comes to price lists, claiming they contained proprietary information or would be too confusing for patients.
Some hospitals, however, have published some information like a small number of prices online, or they’ve shared them with hospital associations so potential patients can get an idea of some basic procedures.
Other hospitals require patients who want price information to contact their healthcare provider or talk to someone in the billing department.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the federal rule requires hospitals to post the information in a "machine-readable" format, allowing consumers to download it into a spreadsheet.
Hospitals must update these price lists at least once each year.