Oklahoma Hospitals Must Post Prices by Nov. 1

Senate Bill 889, authored by Rep. Mark Lepak and Sen. Casey Murdock, takes effect Nov. 1 and requires all Oklahoma hospitals to post standard charges online for at least 300 frequently used services. The Oklahoma State Department of Health is authorized to monitor compliance and may issue written corrective notices and other enforcement actions; hospitals that fail to comply can be barred from collecting outstanding medical debt and patients retain a private right of action. Governor Kevin Stitt and PatientRightsAdvocate launched the Oklahoma Hospital Price Finder (OklahomaHospitalPrices.org), which is live and lets patients, employers and researchers compare costs by procedure, code, insurance and location. Advocates say the measure and tool will reduce surprise bills and expose wide price variation; PatientRightsAdvocate reported only about 12% of Oklahoma hospitals were fully complying with federal price-transparency rules. Officials urged consumers to shop around, though some hospitals have not yet announced rollout plans.