The other day it was reported that because of The Affordable Care Act– Medicare’s solvency is in better shape than it was last year.
And just the other day it was reported that The Affordable Care Act saved young adults and hospitals $147 million in just in 2011.
And just last month, Health and Human Services announced “a three-part initiative that for the first time gives consumers information on what hospitals charge.”
The data released shows “significant variation across the country and within communities in what hospitals charge for common inpatient services.”
“Currently, consumers don’t know what a hospital is charging them or their insurance company for a given procedure, like a knee replacement, or how much of a price difference there is at different hospitals, even within the same city,” Secretary Sebelius said. “This data and new data centers will help fill that gap.”
Expounding:
These amounts can vary widely. For example, average inpatient charges for services a hospital may provide in connection with a joint replacement range from a low of $5,300 at a hospital in Ada, Okla., to a high of $223,000 at a hospital in Monterey Park, Calif.
The data currently covers the 100 most common Medicare inpatient stays.
In terms of health care savings and transparency– this is all huge news.
Why would Republicans want to repeal all of this?