WIS-TV: New Law Aims to Make Medical Bills Easier to Understand

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – South Carolina patients will soon have greater access to detailed information about their medical expenses under a new state law aimed at increasing transparency in health care billing.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, hospitals and other health care facilities across South Carolina will be required to provide patients with access to an electronic itemized bill when seeking payment for medical services or supplies. Patients will also be able to request a paper copy, and providers must notify patients that itemized bills are available.

The law requires medical bills to include plain-language descriptions of services and charges, along with the amount patients owe after insurance payments have been applied.

Supporters say the measure is designed to help consumers better understand the costs associated with their care and identify potential billing errors.

“Transparency in health care is something patients deserve,” said Oran Smith, a senior fellow with the Palmetto Promise Institute.

York County Republican Rep. Heath Sessions, who helped lead the effort, said the law shifts responsibility away from consumers, who previously often had to request detailed billing information on their own.

“The impetus behind this bill was to bring more transparency to the health care space, and anytime you do that for a consumer, it educates the consumer and also helps them understand how much things actually cost,” Sessions said.

Under the new requirements, patients who initially decline an itemized bill will still be able to request one later.