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HB 179

Wyoming HouseFailed

Summary

HB 179, “Hospital pricing transparency”, was introduced in the House on Feb 11, 2026 by Rep. Daniel Singh (R) with 3 co-sponsors. It last saw action on Feb 13, 2026: Failed Introduction 31-29-2-0-0.


Record

Text

HB 179 has 3 co-sponsors and 1 roll call.

hb179/introduced.txt
2026 26LSO-0305
STATE OF WYOMING
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0179
Hospital pricing transparency.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Singh, Rodriguez-Williams
and Wasserburger and Senator(s) Biteman
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to public health and safety; requiring
hospitals to list prices for medical items and services as
specified; requiring the department of health to monitor
and enforce the provisions of this act; requiring
transparency regarding prescription drug pricing as
specified; providing penalties; prohibiting collection
actions as specified; requiring recommendations for
proposed legislation; requiring reports; providing
definitions; requiring rulemaking; making conforming
amendments; and providing for effective dates.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1. W.S. 35-2-1501 through 35-2-1512 are
created to read:
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ARTICLE 15
HOSPITAL PRICE TRANSPARENCY ACT
35-2-1501. Short title; purpose.
(a) This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"Hospital Price Transparency Act."
(b) The purpose of this act is to require hospitals
to disclose prices for certain items and services, to
provide civil penalties and to prohibit debt collection by
hospitals in violation of this act.
35-2-1502. Definitions.
(a) As used in this act:
(i) "340B covered facility" means a facility
described in 42 U.S.C. § 256b(a)(4)(L) through 42 U.S.C. §
256b(a)(4)(O) that:
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(A) Is authorized to participate in the
federal 340B drug pricing program under section 340B of the
federal Public Health Service Act;
(B) Has a service address in this state as
of January 1 of the reporting year; and
(C) Includes any offsite outpatient
facility affiliated under the 340B program.
(ii) "340B program" means the federal 340B drug
pricing program established under 42 U.S.C. § 256b;
(iii) "Charity care" means:
(A) The unreimbursed cost to a facility of
providing health care services; or
(B) Otherwise financially supporting health
care services:
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(I) To a person classified by the
facility as financially indigent or medically indigent on
an inpatient or outpatient basis; or
(II) To financially indigent patients
through other nonprofit or public outpatient clinics,
facilities or health care organizations.
(iv) "Department" means the department of
health;
(v) "De-identified maximum negotiated charge"
means the highest charge a facility has negotiated with all
third party payors for a facility item or service;
(vi) "De-identified minimum negotiated charge"
means the lowest charge a facility has negotiated with all
third party payors for a facility item or service;
(vii) "Discounted cash price" means the charge
that applies to a person who pays cash, or a cash
equivalent, for a facility item or service;
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(viii) "Facility" means a hospital licensed
under title 35 of the Wyoming statutes;
(ix) "Facility item or service" means all items
and services, including individual items and services and
service packages, that may be provided by a facility to a
patient in connection with an inpatient admission or an
outpatient visit, including:
(A) Supplies and procedures;
(B) Room and board;
(C) Use of the facility and other areas,
generally referred to as facility fees;
(D) Services of health care providers,
generally referred to as professional charges;
(E) Prescription medication;
(F) Any other item or service where a
facility has established a standard charge.
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(x) "Financially indigent" means an uninsured or
underinsured person who is accepted for care with no
obligation or a discounted obligation to pay for the
services rendered based on the facility's financial
criteria and procedure used to determine if a patient is
eligible for charity care. The criteria and procedure shall
include income levels and means testing indexed to the
federal poverty guidelines. A facility may determine that a
person is financially or medically indigent under the
facility's eligibility system after health care services
are provided;
(xi) "Gross charge" means the charge for a
facility item or service that is reflected on a facility's
list, less any discounts;
(xii) "Machine-readable format" means a digital
representation of information that can be imported or read
into a computer system for processing;
(xiii) "Medically indigent" means a person whose
medical or hospital bills after payment by third party
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payors exceed a specified percentage of the patient's
annual gross income, as determined in accordance with the
facility's eligibility system, and who is financially
unable to pay the remaining bill;
(xiv) "Payor-specific negotiated charge" means
the charge that a facility has negotiated with a third
party payor for a facility item or service;
(xv) "Shoppable service" means a facility item
or service that may be scheduled by a patient in advance;
(xvi) "Standard charge" means the regular rate
established by the facility for a facility item or service
provided to a specific group of paying patients. The term
includes any of the following:
(A) The gross charge;
(B) The payor-specific negotiated charge;
(C) The de-identified minimum negotiated
charge;
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(D) The de-identified maximum negotiated
charge;
(E) The discounted cash price.
(xvii) "Third-party payor" means a person that
is, by statute, contract or agreement, legally responsible
for payment of a claim for a facility item or service;
(xviii) "This act" means W.S. 35-2-1501 through
35-2-1512.
35-2-1503. Public availability of price information;
requirements.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a facility shall
make public on the home page of the facility's website:
(i) A digital file in a machine-readable format
that contains a list of all standard charges, expressed in
dollar amounts, for all facility items or services as
described by W.S. 35-2-1504;
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(ii) A list of standard charges for a limited
set of shoppable services as provided by W.S. 35-2-1505
which list can be read by a human person.
35-2-1504. List of standard charges required.
(a) A facility shall:
(i) Maintain a list of all standard charges for
all facility items or services in accordance with this
section; and
(ii) Make the list required under paragraph (i)
of this subsection available at all times to the public,
including by posting the list in the manner provided by
this section.
(b) The standard charges contained in the list
required to be maintained by a facility under subsection
(a) of this section shall reflect the standard charges
applicable to each location of the facility, regardless of
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whether the facility operates in more than one (1) location
or operates under the same license as another facility.
(c) The list required by subsection (a) of this
section shall include the following items, if applicable:
(i) A description of each facility item or
service provided by the facility;
(ii) The following charges, expressed in dollar
amounts if applicable, for each individual facility item or
service when provided in either an inpatient or outpatient
setting:
(A) The gross charge;
(B) The de-identified minimum negotiated
charge;
(C) The de-identified maximum negotiated
charge;
(D) The discounted cash price;
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(E) The payor-specific negotiated charge,
listed by the name of the third party payor and any plan
associated with the charge and displayed in a manner that
clearly associates the charge with each third party payor
and plan; and
(F) Any code used by the facility for
purposes of accounting or billing for the facility item or
service.
(iii) Whether the facility receives any
prescription drug discounts under 42 U.S.C. § 256b, and if
so, the names of the discounted prescription drugs and the
total amount of discounts received by the facility
annually.
(d) The list required by this section shall be
displayed in a prominent location on the home page of the
facility's publicly accessible website or accessible
through a link on the home page of that website. If the
facility operates multiple locations and maintains a single
website, the list shall be posted for each location the
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facility operates in a manner that clearly associates the
list with the applicable location of the facility.
(e) The list required by this subsection shall:
(i) Be available:
(A) Free of charge;
(B) Without having to establish a user
account or password;
(C) Without having to submit personal
identifying information;
(D) Without having to enter a code to
access the list.
(ii) Be accessible to a user of an internet
search engine to the extent necessary for the search engine
to index and display the list as a result in response to a
search query;
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(iii) Be formatted in a manner prescribed by the
department;
(iv) Be digitally searchable;
(v) Use the naming convention specified by the
centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.
(f) In prescribing the format for the list described
by paragraph (e)(iii) of this section, the department
shall:
(i) Develop a template that each facility shall
use in formatting the list;
(ii) Consider any applicable federal guidelines
for formatting similar lists required by federal law or
rule and ensure that the design of the template enables
health care researchers to compare the charges contained in
the lists maintained by each facility; and
(iii) Design the template to be substantially
similar to the template used by the centers for Medicare
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and Medicaid services for purposes similar to those of this
act, if the department determines that designing the
template in that manner serves the purposes of paragraph
(ii) of this subsection and that the department, consumers
or patients benefit from developing and requiring that
substantially similar design.
(g) Each facility shall update the list required by
this section not less than annually. Each facility shall
clearly indicate on the list the date that the list was
updated.
35-2-1505. Drug pricing program reporting.
(a) Before April 1 of each year, each 340B covered
facility shall report all of following information and
transactions to the department concerning the 340B covered
facility's participation in the federal 340B program for
the previous calendar year:
(i) The facility's name, service address and
340B program identification number;
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(ii) The designation of facility type, as
specified in 42 U.S.C. § 256b(a)(4), of the 340B covered
facility;
(iii) The total acquisition cost for all
prescription drugs obtained under the 340B program and
dispensed or administered to patients;
(iv) The total payment amount received for all
drugs obtained under the 340B program and dispensed or
administered to patients;
(v) The total payment made to pharmacies under
contract to dispense drugs obtained under the 340B program;
(vi) The number of claims for prescription drugs
under the 340B program;
(vii) How the 340B covered facility uses any
savings from participating in the 340B program, including
the amount of savings used for the provision of charity
care, community benefits or a similar program of providing
unreimbursed or subsidized health care;
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(viii) The total payments made to any other
facility that is not a 340B covered facility and is not a
contract pharmacy for managing any aspect of the 340B
covered facility's 340B program;
(ix) The total payment made for any other
administration expenses for the 340B program;
(x) The total number of prescription drugs
dispensed or administered to patients for which a payment
was reported under this subsection;
(xi) The percentage of the 340B covered
facility's claims that were for prescription drugs obtained
under the 340B program;
(xii) The number and percentage of low income
patients of the 340B covered facility that were served by a
sliding fee scale for a prescription drug dispensed or
administered under the 340B program;
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(xiii) The 340B covered facility's total
operating costs;
(xiv) The 340B covered facility's total costs
for charity care;
(xv) A copy of the 340B covered facility's
financial assistance policy for the reporting year.
(b) The information required to be reported under
subsection (a) of this section shall, to the extent
feasible, be reported by payer type, including but not
limited to the following:
(i) Commercial health insurance;
(ii) Medicaid;
(iii) Medicare;
(iv) Uninsured.
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(c) The data submitted in the report required under
subsection (a) of this section shall be confidential and
shall not be available for public inspection.
(d) Before November 15 of each year and without
revealing any confidential information, the department
shall prepare a report that aggregates the data submitted
under subsection (a) of this section and shall:
(i) Submit the report to the management council
of the legislature in an electronic format;
(ii) Post the report on the department's
website.
(e) The department shall impose a civil penalty of
one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per day on a 340B covered
facility that fails to provide the information required
under subsection (a) of this section by November 15 of any
year.
35-2-1506. Consumer-friendly list of shoppable
services; requirements.
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(a) A facility shall maintain and make publicly
available a list of the standard charges described by W.S.
35-2-1504(b) and (c) for not less than three hundred (300)
shoppable services provided by the facility. Each facility
may select the shoppable services to be included in the
list, except that the list shall include:
(i) The seventy (70) services specified by the
centers for Medicare and Medicaid services pursuant to 45
C.F.R. part 180; or
(ii) If the facility does not provide all of the
shoppable services described by paragraph (i) of this
subsection, all of the shoppable services the facility does
provide. Services that are not provided but are Medicare
and Medicaid listed services shall be identified by the
facility; and
(iii) Each location where a facility provides
the shoppable service and whether the standard charges
included in the list apply at that location.
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(b) In selecting a shoppable service for purposes of
inclusion in the list required by subsection (a) of this
section, a facility shall:
(i) Consider how frequently the facility
provides the service and the facility's billing rate for
that service; and
(ii) Prioritize the selection of services that
are among the services most frequently provided by the
facility.
(c) The list required by subsection (a) of this
section shall be:
(i) Displayed and offered in the manner
prescribed by W.S. 35-2-1504(d) and (e);
(ii) Searchable by service description, billing
code and third party payor;
(iii) Updated in the manner prescribed by W.S.
35-2-1504(g);
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(iv) Accessible through an internet search
engine in response to a search query of a user of the
search engine; and
(v) Formatted in a manner that is consistent
with the format prescribed by the department under W.S.
35-2-1504(e)(iii).
35-2-1507. Reporting requirement.
Each time a facility updates a list as required by W.S.
35-2-1504(g) and 35-2-1505(c)(iv), the facility shall
submit the updated list to the department. The department
shall prescribe the form in which the updated list shall be
submitted to the department.
35-2-1508. Monitoring.
(a) The department shall monitor each facility's
compliance with the requirements of this act using any of
the following methods:
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(i) Evaluating complaints made by persons to the
department regarding noncompliance with the act;
(ii) Reviewing any analysis prepared by any
state or federal agency regarding noncompliance with this
act;
(iii) Auditing the websites of facilities for
compliance with this act;
(iv) Confirming that each facility submitted the
lists as required by W.S. 35-2-1506.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, in considering an application for renewal of a
facility's license or certificate, the department shall
consider whether a facility is or has been in substantial
compliance with this act.
35-2-1509. Material violation; corrective action
plan.
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(a) A facility materially violates this act if the
facility fails to:
(i) Comply with the requirements of W.S.
35-2-1503; or
(ii) Publicize the facility's standard charges
in the form and manner required by W.S. 35-2-1504 and
35-2-1505.
(b) If the department determines that a facility has
materially violated this act, the department shall issue a
material violation notice to the facility and require that
the facility submit a corrective action plan within thirty
(30) days of receiving the material violation notice. The
notice shall indicate the form and manner that the
corrective action plan shall be submitted to the department
and shall clearly state the date by which the facility
shall submit the plan.
(c) The facility that receives a notice under
subsection (b) of this section shall:
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(i) Submit a corrective action plan in the form,
manner and by the specified date prescribed by the notice
of violation; and
(ii) Act to comply with the plan within thirty
(30) days of submitting the plan to the department.
(d) A corrective action plan submitted to the
department under subsection (c) of this section shall:
(i) Describe in detail the corrective action the
facility will take to address any violation identified by
the department in the notice provided under subsection (b)
of this section; and
(ii) Provide a date when the facility will
complete the corrective action plan.
(e) A corrective action plan is subject to review and
approval by the department. After the department reviews
and approves a facility's corrective action plan, the
department shall monitor and evaluate the facility's
compliance with the plan. If the department does not
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approve the facility's corrective action plan, the
department shall inform the facility of the deficiencies in
the plan and require the facility to amend and resubmit the
plan.
(f) A facility is considered to have failed to
respond to the department's request to submit a corrective
action plan if the facility fails to submit a corrective
action plan:
(i) In the form and manner specified in the
notice under subsection (b) of this section; or
(ii) By the date specified in the notice
provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(g) A facility is considered to have failed to comply
with a corrective action plan if the facility fails to
correct a violation within the specified period of time
contained in the plan.
35-2-1510. Civil penalty; notice of violations.
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(a) The department shall impose a civil penalty on a
facility if the facility fails to:
(i) Respond to the department's notice to submit
a corrective action plan; or
(ii) Comply with the requirements of a
corrective action plan submitted to the department.
(b) The department shall impose a civil penalty on a
noncompliant facility as follows:
(i) For a facility categorized as a critical
access hospital:
(A) For a first offense, one hundred
dollars ($100.00) per day for each day the facility fails
to comply with subsection (a) of this section;
(B) For a second offense, five hundred
dollars ($500.00) per day for each day the facility fails
to comply with subsection (a) of this section;
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(C) For a third or subsequent offense, one
thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per day for each day the
facility fails to comply with subsection (a) of this
section.
(ii) For all other facilities, one thousand
dollars ($1,000.00) per day for each day the facility fails
to comply with subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Beginning October 1, 2025, the department shall
create and maintain a publicly available list on its
website of facilities that have been found to be in
violation of this act, that have been issued a civil
penalty or sent a warning notice or that have been sent a
request for a corrective action plan from the department.
Such penalties, notices and communications shall be subject
to public disclosure under 5 U.S.C. § 552, notwithstanding
any exemptions or exclusions to the contrary, in full
without redaction. The list required by this subsection
shall be updated every thirty (30) days.
35-2-1511. Legislative recommendations.
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The department shall propose to the joint labor, health and
social services interim committee any necessary
recommendations for amending this act, including
recommendations in response to amendments by the centers
for Medicare and Medicaid services to 45 C.F.R. part 180,
not later than October 1 of each year.
35-2-1512. Prohibiting collection action of debt
against patients by noncompliant facilities.
(a) As used in this section:
(i) "Collection action" means any of the
following actions taken with respect to a debt for items
and services that were purchased from or provided to a
patient by a facility on a date during which the facility
was in material violation of this act:
(A) Attempting to collect a debt from a
patient or patient guarantor by referring the debt,
directly or indirectly, to a debt collector, a collection
agency or a third party payor retained by or on behalf of
the facility;
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(B) Suing the patient or patient guarantor,
or enforcing an arbitration or mediation agreement; or
(C) Directly or indirectly causing a report
to be made to a consumer reporting agency.
(ii) "Collection agency" means any person who:
(A) Engages in a business mainly focused on
debt collection;
(B) Regularly collects or attempts to
collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed, due or
asserted to be owed or due to another;
(C) Takes assignment of debts for
collection purposes; or
(D) Directly or indirectly solicits for the
collection of debts owed, due or asserted to be owed or due
to another.
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(iii) "Consumer reporting agency" means any
person who, for monetary fees, dues or on a cooperative
nonprofit basis, regularly engages, in whole or in part, in
the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit
information or other information on consumers for the
purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties.
"Consumer reporting agency" shall include any person
defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f) but shall not include any
business entity that provides check verification or check
guarantee services only;
(iv) "Debt" means any obligation or alleged
obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a
transaction, whether or not the obligation has been reduced
to a judgment. "Debt" shall not include a debt for
business, investment, commercial or agricultural purposes;
(v) "Debt collector" means any person employed
or engaged by a collection agency to perform the collection
of debts owed, due or asserted to be owed or due to
another.
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(b) A facility that is in material violation of this
act on the date that items and services are purchased from
or provided to a patient by the facility shall not initiate
or pursue a collection action against the patient or
patient guarantor for a debt owed for the items or
services.
(c) If a patient provides documentation that a
facility was in material violation of this act on a date
that items or services were purchased by or provided to the
patient and the facility takes collection action against
the patient or patient guarantor, the patient or patient
guarantor may file suit to determine if the facility
materially violated this act on the date of the purchase
and the violation is related to the items and services
purchased. The facility shall not take a collection action
against the patient or patient guarantor while the lawsuit
is pending.
(d) A facility that has been found by a court of
competent jurisdiction to have materially violated this
act:
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(i) Shall require the facility to refund the
payor any amount of the debt the payor has paid and shall
pay a penalty to the patient or patient guarantor in an
amount equal to the total amount of the debt;
(ii) Shall dismiss or cause to be dismissed any
court action with prejudice and pay any attorney fees and
costs incurred by the patient or patient guarantor relating
to the action; and
(iii) Remove or cause to be removed from the
patient or patient guarantor's credit report any report
made to a consumer reporting agency relating to the debt.
(e) Nothing in this section shall:
(i) Prohibit a facility from billing a patient,
patient guarantor or third party payor for items or
services provided to the patient; or
(ii) Require a facility to refund any payment
made to the facility for items or services provided to the
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patient, provided no collection action is taken in
violation of this section.
Section 2. W.S. 35‑2‑905(a) by creating a new
paragraph (vi) is amended to read:
35-2-905. Conditions, monitoring or revoking a
license.
(a) The division may place conditions upon a license,
install a division approved monitor or manager at the
owner's or operator's expense, suspend admissions, or deny,
suspend or revoke a license issued under this act if a
licensee:
(vi) Violates any provision of W.S. 35-2-1501
through 35-2-1511.
Section 3. The department of health shall promulgate
all rules necessary to implement this act.
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Section 4.
(a) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of
this section, this act is effective July 1, 2026.
(b) Sections 3 and 4 of this act are effective
immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a
bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of
the Wyoming Constitution.
(END)
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AN ACT relating to public health and safety; requiring hospitals to list prices for medical items and services as specified; requiring the department of health to monitor and enforce the provisions of this act; requiring transparency regarding prescription drug pricing as specified; providing penalties; prohibiting collection actions as specified; requiring recommendations for proposed legislation; requiring reports; providing definitions; requiring rulemaking; making conforming amendments; and providing for effective dates.

Sponsors

Rep. Daniel Singh (R) sponsors HB 179, and 3 members have co-sponsored it.

History

HB 179 has taken 3 actions since Feb 11, 2026, the latest on Feb 13, 2026.

ChamberAction
Feb 13, 2026
House
Failed Introduction 31-29-2-0-0
Feb 11, 2026
Bill Number Assigned
Feb 11, 2026
House
Received for Introduction

Votes

HB 179 went to 1 roll call in the House, the latest on Feb 13, 2026 at 3129.

ChamberQuestion
Yea
Nay
Feb 13, 2026
House
Failed Introduction 31-29-2-0-0
31
29

Source: wyoleg.gov · legiscan.com