Last week, a federal judge ordered that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must hand over all documents pertaining to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests made by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) regarding a 2020 rule requiring hospitals to make standard charges public.
In August of 2022, FGA filed a lawsuit against CMS for failing to respond to these FOIA requests. Nearly two-thirds of hospitals are not complying with the rule’s price transparency requirements, and the FOIA request will help FGA and the American people understand why.
After CMS failed to justify the delay in response, the judge’s ruling this week requires CMS to produce all requested documents by the end of April 2023. FGA expects the first documents to arrive by the end of this month.
“Far too many hospitals are choosing not to comply with federal price transparency requirements,” said Hayden Dublois, Data and Analytics Director for FGA. “This is in no small part due to the lack of enforcement by CMS, which is why reviewing these records is so critical.”
“The Biden administration’s unwillingness to fully enforce the hospital price transparency rule is robbing many Americans of their right under current law to know what a hospital visit will cost them up front,” said Stewart Whitson, FGA’s Legal Director. “We are very pleased with this favorable ruling and look forward to sharing what we uncover with Congress and the American people to promote transparency and government accountability.”
