CMS announces changes to hospital price transparency enforcement process

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today announced changes (https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/hospital-price-transparency-enforcement-updates) to its enforcement process for the hospital price transparency rule. CMS said it will now automatically impose a civil monetary penalty if hospitals fail to submit a corrective action plan on time or fail to complete the CAP within 45 days. In addition, the agency will no longer issue a warning notice to hospitals that have not posted any machine-readable file or shoppable services list/price estimator tool, but will immediately ask the hospital to submit a CAP.