Imagine buying a car and getting a bill for your car payment that was 50% more than what you agreed to. Or buying a house and getting a mortgage note for twice as much as what you expected. You’d be furious — and probably call a lawyer.
That wouldn’t happen, of course, because when you purchased that car or house you did so at a transparent, agreed-upon price. But too often in health care, customers aren’t given prices — they’re given estimates. And without some guardrails, estimates can be meaningless.
Texas State Representative Caroline Harris Davila (R-Williamson County) has filed legislation to rein in the practice of surprising patients by providing unrealistic price estimates. House Bill 251 limits how much final billed charges may exceed the amount specified in the estimate to no more than 5% unless the additional charges are for issues that were unknown at the time of the estimate through either a change in diagnosis or a documented complication.
And if something does come up and the final billed charges exceed the amount specified in an estimate by more than five percent, the facility must provide the patient a statement written in plain language explaining why.
You wouldn’t get your hair cut from someone who gave you an “estimate” and wouldn’t tell you the real price until they were finished. And you shouldn’t have to accept those terms from your health care provider, either.
Estimates aren’t prices. Texans deserve to know the price of their health care before they receive it.