Texas Ruling on $11,000 ER Bill May Have Long-lasting Effects, Experts Say

The health care industry is closely watching a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court that some say could have broader implications on how hospitals and health insurers negotiate their rates.The court sided with an uninsured woman who was billed $11,037 after an emergency room visit. The justices said that in order to prove her bill was “reasonable” compared to what an insured patient would be billed, the medical center would need to share in court details about the discounted rates it had with health insurers, data that’s generally seen as proprietary and confidential.The case outlines the complexities of health care billing that consumers often see as arbitrary, not transparent and confusing, whether they have insurance or not.Read the Texas Supreme Court decision here  Continue reading...