I'm aware of them, but I'm not familiar with them as they seem like band-aids that add even more patient self-administrative bloat, rather than fixing the core dynamic - making healthcare pricing work like every other industry. The word "demand" is a tell, showing that this is not the normal course of the relationship. Another tell is that it's two prongs - why can't everyone receive a "good faith estimate" from a provider? Note I'm still not asking the provider to grok the patient's health plan - rather to be upfront about the prices they themselves are choosing to charge.
Also the ambiguous place between the two cases - "you have a health plan but we didn't do the work to actually bill it" - is a common source of the fraudulent shakedown bills, and this does nothing to constrain those types of fraudulent bills!
In general, I don't need to request a "Good Faith Estimate" from a grocery store about my upcoming food purchase for when I go later in the week, nor for an oil change down at the mechanic. If I go to the mechanic with "something is making a noise", then they are upfront about any fixed diagnosis fee, and then give estimates routinely in terms of a shop rate and book hours. If there are still unknowns about what might need to be fixed/replaced, they are up front about that and readily communicate with the customer. All of this is straight up missing in the medical industry, even when you try to engage. Rather they shove "consent" forms at you that say nonsensical anti-contractual things like "we can bill you whatever we want and you're responsible" and when you start pushing back on them they look at you like you have three heads.
(and just to head off the inevitable drive by comments like "It's not practical to shop around while you're in an ambulance" - the vast majority of medical care is scheduled ahead of time rather than on an urgent basis)
Also the ambiguous place between the two cases - "you have a health plan but we didn't do the work to actually bill it" - is a common source of the fraudulent shakedown bills, and this does nothing to constrain those types of fraudulent bills!
In general, I don't need to request a "Good Faith Estimate" from a grocery store about my upcoming food purchase for when I go later in the week, nor for an oil change down at the mechanic. If I go to the mechanic with "something is making a noise", then they are upfront about any fixed diagnosis fee, and then give estimates routinely in terms of a shop rate and book hours. If there are still unknowns about what might need to be fixed/replaced, they are up front about that and readily communicate with the customer. All of this is straight up missing in the medical industry, even when you try to engage. Rather they shove "consent" forms at you that say nonsensical anti-contractual things like "we can bill you whatever we want and you're responsible" and when you start pushing back on them they look at you like you have three heads.
(and just to head off the inevitable drive by comments like "It's not practical to shop around while you're in an ambulance" - the vast majority of medical care is scheduled ahead of time rather than on an urgent basis)