Senate Committee Approves Bipartisan Bill to Improve Medical Price Transparency

Legislation to bolster consumer protections, increase transparency in health care

DENVER, CO – Today, the Senate Health & Human Services Committee approved Senator Julie Gonzales’, D-Denver, bipartisan bill to protect consumers and increase the transparency of medical prices.

SB23-252, cosponsored by Senator Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, would require all hospitals to make a public list of the cost of all items and services provided to patients.

“Coloradans deserve to know what their medical bills will look like before going into treatment or surgery,” Gonzales said. “We’ve made great progress in our work to protect consumers and lower the costs of health care, but there’s still more we can do. It’s time to take the next step and increase medical price transparency so Coloradans aren’t blindsided with big bills after receiving care.”

Under this legislation, hospitals are required to maintain a public list of at least 300 shoppable services, which is a service that a patient can schedule in advance. If the hospital does not have 300 shoppable services, they must list all of the services they provide. Violations of SB23-252 would be a deceptive trade practice under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

This bill builds off of HB22-1285, which prohibits hospitals from pursuing debt collection action against a patient if the hospital failed to comply with federal hospital price transparency laws during the patient’s treatment.

SB23-252 now heads to the Senate floor. Follow the bill’s progress HERE.