By: Emily Black Grey

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment records are governed by 42 CFR Part 2, and hospitals must be aware of the potential applicability of these regulations. Like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), these “Part 2” regulations safeguard confidentiality of patient records and protect some of the most vulnerable patients: those in SUD treatment. The heightened protections in the Part 2 regulations are meant to ensure that a patient who receives SUD treatment is not made more vulnerable by the availability of his or her treatment records.

Written by Catherine B. Moore.

It is more important than ever to ensure that hospitals are in compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Hospital Price Transparency Regulations (Section 2718(e) of the Public Health Service Act) (“Price Transparency”), as CMS reported that they will be tougher with their Price Transparency enforcement moving forward. On April 26, 2023, CMS issued a “Hospital Price Transparency Enforcement Updates” Fact Sheet detailing their efforts to double down on enforcement and compliance with the Price Transparency rules. The Hospital Price Transparency regulations generally require each hospital operating in the U.S. to make its standard charges publicly available in: (1) a single comprehensive machine-readable file; and (2) a consumer-friendly display of standard charges for shoppable services. The Price Transparency regulations are very detailed on the types of standard charges that must appear in each format. Hospital compliance with the requirements has been varied, with some hospitals arguing that the Price Transparency requirements are too difficult and complicated to comply with.