I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1362 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the public 
disclosure of prices for hospital and ambulatory surgical center proce-
dures and drugs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2005 
Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself and Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 
for the public disclosure of prices for hospital and ambu-
latory surgical center procedures and drugs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hospital Price Disclo-
sure Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF HOSPITAL AND AMBULA-
TORY SURGICAL CENTER DATA. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) HOSPITALS.—Subsection (a)(1) of section 
1866 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc) 
is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (U), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (V), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (V) 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(W) in the case of a hospital, to report to the 
Secretary data in accordance with subsection (k)(1) 
and to post notice regarding such data in accordance 
with subsection (k)(2)(B).’’. 
(2) AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTERS.—Section 
1832(a)(2)(F)(i) 
of 
such 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
1395k(a)(2)(F)(i)) is amended by inserting after 
‘‘other standards’’ the following: ‘‘, including the re-
porting to the Secretary of data in accordance with 
section 1866(k)(1) and the posting of notice regard-
ing 
such 
data 
in 
accordance 
with 
section 
1866(k)(2)(B)’’. 
(b) DATA REPORTING BY HOSPITALS AND AMBULA-
TORY SURGICAL CENTERS FOR CERTAIN INPATIENT AND
OUTPATIENT PROCEDURES
AND INPATIENT DRUGS.— 
Section 1866 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc) is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(k) DATA REPORTING BY HOSPITALS AND AMBULA-
TORY SURGICAL CENTERS AND PUBLIC POSTING.— 
‘‘(1) QUARTERLY REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 
Not later than 45 days after the end of each cal-
endar quarter (beginning more than one year after 
the date of the enactment of this subsection), a hos-
pital shall report to the Secretary, for each proce-
dure or drug selected under paragraph (3), and an 
ambulatory surgical center shall report to the Sec-
retary, for each procedure selected under paragraph 
(3)(A)(ii), the following data: 
‘‘(A) The frequency with which the hos-
pital performed the procedure, or administered 
the drug in an inpatient setting, or the center 
performed the procedure during such quarter. 
‘‘(B) If the procedure was performed or 
the drug was so administered during such quar-
ter, the average and the median of the price 
charged by the hospital or center for such pro-
cedure or drug during such quarter. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—
‘‘(A) PUBLIC
POSTING
OF
DATA.—The 
Secretary shall promptly post, on the official 
public Internet site of the Department of 
Health and Human Services, the data reported 
under paragraph (1). Such data shall be set 
forth in a manner that promotes price compari-
son among hospitals and ambulatory surgical 
centers. 
‘‘(B) NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY.—A hos-
pital and ambulatory surgical center shall 
prominently post at each admission site of the 
hospital or center a notice of the availability of 
the data reported under paragraph (1) on the 
official public Internet site under subparagraph 
(A). 
‘‘(3) 
SELECTION
OF
PROCEDURES
AND 
DRUGS.— 
‘‘(A) INITIAL SELECTION.—Based on na-
tional data, the Secretary shall select the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) The 25 most frequently per-
formed hospital inpatient procedures. 
‘‘(ii) The 25 most frequently per-
formed hospital outpatient procedures.
‘‘(iii) The 50 most frequently adminis-
tered drugs in a hospital inpatient setting. 
‘‘(B) UPDATING
SELECTION.—The Sec-
retary shall periodically update the procedures 
and drugs selected under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(4) CIVIL
MONEY
PENALTY.—The Secretary 
may impose a civil money penalty of not more than 
$10,000 for each knowing violation of the provisions 
of paragraph (1) or (2)(B) by a hospital or ambula-
tory surgical center. A civil money penalty under 
this paragraph shall be imposed and collected in the 
same manner as a civil money penalty under sub-
section (a) of section 1128A is imposed and collected 
under that section. 
‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 
‘‘(A) CLASSIFICATION OF PROCEDURES.— 
For purposes of this subsection, the Secretary 
shall establish rules for the classification of dif-
ferent procedures and for the assignment of 
items and services to those procedures. 
‘‘(B) COMPUTATION OF AVERAGE AND ME-
DIAN PRICES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), 
the computation of an average and median 
price for a procedure or drug shall be in accord-
ance with a methodology prescribed by the Sec-