Hospitals across Rhode Island are required by federal and state law to post their medical pricing data, including the negotiated prices for procedures by insurer, to their websites in a “consumer-friendly” format.

Hospital pricing transparency is supposed to empower patients and self-insured businesses to make more financially sound decisions when paying for health care.

Two reporters combed through spreadsheets and JSON files downloaded from hospital websites. The Providence Journal used that pricing data to analyze 19 billing codes at 10 of the state’s acute-care hospitals.

Why do hospitals post this data?

In 2019, during his first term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal health officials to write rules ordering hospitals to post prices and rates for

See Full Page