Hospital Price Transparency Rule

The Hospital Price Transparency rule is a federal regulation, 45 CFR Part 180, in force since January 1, 2021, that requires every hospital in the United States to post its prices online. Two things are required. First, a machine-readable file listing the hospital's standard charges for every item and service: the gross charge, the discounted cash price, the negotiated rate with each insurance plan by name, and the lowest and highest negotiated rates without naming the plan. Second, a consumer-friendly display of at least 300 "shoppable" services, the kind you can schedule in advance, with the same price information.

Compliance was poor for the first two years. Many hospitals posted nothing, or posted files that were unreadable on purpose. CMS responded with fines of up to $5,500 a day for hospitals with more than 30 beds, which is about $2 million a year, and by 2024 had fined hospitals in Georgia, Texas, Florida and elsewhere. A 2024 rule change requires a standard file format and a signed attestation from a hospital officer that the file is complete and accurate. Compliance has improved substantially, and the files are now the single best source of real, contract-level prices in the country. That is exactly what TruePrice reads: the payer name, the plan, and the dollar figure, straight from each hospital's own file, alongside its cash price.

The takeaway: every hospital's prices are public by law. If a hospital tells you it cannot give you a price for a scheduled service, it is either out of compliance or not trying, and you can report it at cms.gov.