This part implements section 2718(e) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, which requires each hospital operating within the United States, for each year, to establish, update, and make public a list of the hospital's standard charges for items and services provided by the hospital, including for diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) established under section 1886(d)(4) of the Social Security Act. This part also implements section 2718(b)(3) of the PHS Act, to the extent that section authorizes CMS to promulgate regulations for enforcing section 2718(e). This part also implements section 1102(a) of the Social Security Act, which authorizes the Secretary to make and publish rules and regulations, not inconsistent with that Act, as may be necessary to the efficient administration of the functions for which the Secretary is charged under that Act.

The following definitions apply to this part, unless specified otherwise:

Ancillary service means an item or service a hospital customarily provides as part of or in conjunction with a shoppable primary service.

Chargemaster (Charge Description Master or CDM) means the list of all individual items and services maintained by a hospital for which the hospital has established a charge.

CMS template means a CSV format or JSON schema that CMS makes available for purposes of compliance with § 180.40(a).

De-identified maximum negotiated charge means the highest charge that a hospital has negotiated with all third party payers for an item or service.

De-identified minimum negotiated charge means the lowest charge that a hospital has negotiated with all third party payers for an item or service.

Discounted cash price means the charge that applies to an individual who pays cash (or cash equivalent) for a hospital item or service.

Encode means to convert hospital standard charge information into a machine-readable format that complies with § 180.50(c)(2).

Estimated allowed amount means the average dollar amount that the hospital has historically received from a third party payer for an item or service.

Gross charge means the charge for an individual item or service that is reflected on a hospital's chargemaster, absent any discounts.

Hospital means an institution in any State in which State or applicable local law provides for the licensing of hospitals, that is licensed as a hospital pursuant to such law or is approved, by the agency of such State or locality responsible for licensing hospitals, as meeting the standards established for such licensing. For purposes of this definition, a State includes each of the several States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Items and services means all items and services, including individual items and services and service packages, that could be provided by a hospital to a patient in connection with an inpatient admission or an outpatient department visit for which the hospital has established a standard charge. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Supplies and procedures.

(2) Room and board.

(3) Use of the facility and other items (generally described as facility fees).

(4) Services of employed physicians and non-physician practitioners (generally reflected as professional charges).

(5) Any other items or services for which a hospital has established a standard charge.

Machine-readable file means a single digital file that is in a machine-readable format.

Machine-readable format means a digital representation of data or information in a file that can be imported or read into a computer system for further processing.

Payer-specific negotiated charge means the charge that a hospital has negotiated with a third party payer for an item or service.

Service package means an aggregation of individual items and services into a single service with a single charge.

Shoppable service means a service that can be scheduled by a healthcare consumer in advance.

Standard charge means the regular rate established by the hospital for an item or service provided to a specific group of paying patients. This includes all of the following as defined under this section:

(1) Gross charge.

(2) Payer-specific negotiated charge.

(3) De-identified minimum negotiated charge.

(4) De-identified maximum negotiated charge.

(5) Discounted cash price.

State forensic hospital means a public psychiatric hospital that provides treatment for individuals who are in the custody of penal authorities.

Third party payer means an entity that is, by statute, contract, or agreement, legally responsible for payment of a claim for a healthcare item or service.

(a) General applicability. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the requirements of this part apply to hospitals as defined at § 180.20.

(b) Exception. Federal and State hospitals are deemed by CMS to be in compliance with the requirements of this part including but not limited to:

(1) Federally owned hospital facilities, including facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Military Treatment Facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Defense.

(2) Hospitals operated by an Indian Health Program as defined in section 4(12) of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

(3) State forensic hospitals that provide treatment exclusively to individuals who are in the custody of penal authorities.

(c) Online availability. Unless otherwise stated, hospital charge information must be made public electronically via the internet.