Hundreds of hospitals across America used special code on their websites to hide pricing data that they were required to disclose by a Trump-era executive order.
The hospitals began publishing once-confidential prices in January but blocked that information from search results with an embedded code, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. An executive order signed by former President Donald Trump required hospitals to openly list prices for hundreds of common medical procedures starting Jan. 1, 2021.
A new federal law required hospitals to post their real prices starting January 1.
A bunch of hospitals wrote code that blocked Google from showing that data in search results.
Price transparency! https://t.co/g8gokXNXzN
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) March 22, 2021
While the prices were still accessible through direct links or navigating layers of other pages, the code hid them from popular search engines like Google, The WSJ reported. “It’s technically there, but good luck finding it,” University of Washington associate professor Chirag Shah told The WSJ.
In a review of more than 3,100 sites, The WSJ found the code being used by providers including the University of Pennsylvania Health System, NYU Langone Health, Michigan’s Beaumont Health and North Carolina’s Novant Health. (RELATED: AstraZeneca’s Vaccine Is 79% Effective In The US With No Safety Concerns, Company Announces)
Penn, NYU Langone and Novant reportedly said they were using the code to direct customers to other information they considered to be more useful. Many of the sites removed the code after being contacted for comment by The WSJ.
Several healthcare systems said the code was a mistake or was inserted by a third-party vendor. Computer science experts told The WSJ the code is sometimes used when a page is under construction and is typically removed when the page is finished.
The Trump order was one step the administration took to lower healthcare costs. Hospitals typically have a starting price from which they negotiate discounted rates with insurers, as well as a cash price for uninsured patients. The rule requires those rates to be disclosed publicly and displayed prominently on a website.
Hundreds of websites are violating the spirit of the rule or flat-out not complying at all, according to Turquoise Health Co, The WSJ reported. (RELATED: Americans Got Way Fatter During Pandemic, Poll Finds)
Responsibility for tracking and enforcing the regulation belongs to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which falls under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
An HHS spokesperson told the Daily Caller they intend to enforce the regulation but did not clarify whether the hospitals in this situation may be subject to punishment. “Hospitals are required by law to provide clear, accessible pricing information online about the items and services they provide. We expect hospitals to comply with these requirements and will enforce these rules to make sure Americans know the cost of their health care in advance,” their statement said.