Emergency Care Cost Disclosure Rules Vex California Justices

California’s top court struggled Wednesday with whether the state’s web of emergency service regulations offers enough price transparency to align with California’s strong legal protections for consumers, without seeming to arrive at a clear answer.

Those regulations, meant to bar hospitals from turning away uninsured patients, may not offer patients enough warning about baseline fees for seeking care, some justices suggested.

Multiple justices asked whether clarity could be added by requiring hospitals post a sign informing patients that a range of visitation fees exists, and directing them to consult the chargemaster—the full online list of the costs for thousands of ...