NYC City Council approves bill allowing patients to compare costs at different hospitals online
The City Council passed legislation supported by Mayor Eric Adams aimed at cracking down on sky-high hospital costs on Thursday, The Post has learned.
The bill sponsored by Councilwoman Julie Menin (D-Manhattan) would create a new office of “health care accountability” within city government, and offer greater transparency to patients on costs of medical procedures at a private hospital vs. city-run medical facilities — all online.
The Post previously reported on analyses showing the city could save as much as $2 billion annually by auditing exactly how much city workers are paying for their health care at various hospitals and making recommendations on ways to lower the prices.
Menin argues it’ll help the city’s budget woes in future years.
“As we head into this very typical fiscal crisis that we’re in, and particularly around issues around the migrants, we need to save money,” she said in an interview.
“This is one of the few where we can … if we were to enact this bill, build a robust office of health care accountability and utilize it to drive down costs by harnessing the city’s purchasing power.”
The measure passed the chamber 50-0.
“We’re committed to ensuring every New Yorker has access to quality and affordable health care with transparent pricing,” said City Hall spokesperson Kate Smart in a statement.
“This bill will make it easier for New Yorkers to find information on hospital pricing, and we’re grateful to our partners in labor and the council for pushing this forward.”
It’s opposed by the state’s powerful hospital lobby, the Greater New York Hospital Association.
“Hospitals in New York City face severe economic pressures, including Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement that doesn’t come close to covering the cost of care,” GNYHA president Kenneth E. Raske told The Post in a statement.
“This bill does nothing to address those underpayments and offers struggling safety hospitals no financial support. Instead, it wrongly blames hospitals for rising health care costs while ignoring national insurance companies that ship their massive profits out of New York. Our hospitals deserve better.”
Building services union 32BJ released a report last year using members’ medical billing data to compare disparate prices for procedures done at private hospitals in the city, compared to the same surgeries completed at public hospitals — finding private hospitals are charging way more.
For example, an outpatient colonoscopy runs $10,368 at New York-Presbyterian, but costs just $4,139 at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Meanwhile, at the city’s public hospital system, it’s even cheaper: $2,185 for the procedure.
“No one should walk into a hospital more worried about their bill than the diagnosis. The creation of a first-in-the-nation Office of Healthcare Accountability will give families, businesses and our city government the pricing transparency they need to combat outrageous and unfair hospital costs,” said Manny Pastreich, president of SEIU 32BJ.
