In Florida, Urgent Care Clinics Must Now Post Prices

When you set out to purchase almost any good or service, you can expect to get a price upfront—but not at medical facilities. That's what Florida state Rep. Richard Corcoran discovered last year when his wife needed an MRI, and found out it could cost anywhere from $350 to $1,200. That experience led him to introduce a bill, just approved and taking effect Friday, for more transparency at health care providers.

Urgent care clinics will be required to post the prices of their 50 most common services—and will face fines as high as $1,000 a day if they don't comply, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Physicians, however, are concerned, arguing that pricing is too complex; it might be different, for example, depending on whether you have insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. The new law attempts to simplify it: The prices will apply only to patients paying with cash, credit, or debit. (More transparency stories.)