Friend, thanks for a great 2019! link graphic 2019 A Year in Review Unlabeled graphic To get missing image descriptions, open the context menu. heading level 4 JANUARY 1 What happened? Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a price transparency rule requiring hospitals to post standard prices online. What did it do? CMS intended the rule to make it easier for patients to know their costs upfront, but some groups in the industry argued that standard charges are used for negotiation and most patients never see those rates, so it could confuse and scare patients away from getting needed care. heading level 4 JUNE 24 What happened? The Trump Administration issued the Executive Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First. What did it do? The Order tasked the CMS, Department of Health and Human Services, and other relevant federal agencies with making price transparency in healthcare a priority and drafting regulations to enforce it. heading level 4 NOVEMBER 15 What happened? CMS issued a new Final Rule on price transparency expected to go into effect on January 1, 2021. What would it do? This rule builds on the posting of standard charges and will require hospitals to post consumer friendly prices online for 300 shoppable services. heading level 4 DECEMBER 8 What happened? Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate announced an agreement on anti surprise bill legislation. What’s next? This surprise bills legislation didn’t make it into the year end congressional funding agreement. But it’s clear that this issue is important to both Republicans and Democrats, and we expect to see more in the New Year. 2020 is already shaping up to be another big year in patient empowerment! link See More Details link graphic Kym Kym had come across many doctors in her lifetime, but none like the one she traveled 220 miles to meet. link Read Kym’s story link graphic Jim When Jim’s wife needed a procedure, they turned to their insurance for support, only to find out that they had a high unmet deductible. They needed another option and that’s when they found M Dsave. link Read Jim’s story link graphic Kristi Kristi’s daughter needed surgery. But when she was quoted an enormous price, she knew something wasn’t right and took matters into her own hands. Kristi took her case all the way up to leadership and got them to listen. link Read Kristi’s story link graphic Mike Mike took his daughter to a baseball game only to be hit with the ultimate curveball a few days later: he might have cancer. He was left wondering how he was going to pay until his hospital told him about M Dsave. link Read Mike’s story link Read More Stories We couldn’t have done it without you. link How M Dsave Works link Financing link Procedures link Deductibles link Blog link Contact link View this email in your browser Copyright Copyright 2019 M Dsave, Inc dot , All rights reserved.