Garcia Honored For Legislation at Conference

Salem Rep. Marilinda Garcia (R) was honored Tuesday as aHealth Care Vital Vertical Ventures winner at the Disruptivate! Goes Vertical conference at Wentworth By the Sea in New Castle.

Garcia received the honor for a piece of legislation called the Price Disclosure Act she introduced in 2010 and is hoping to re-introduce next year if she is re-elected in November.

Garcia provided the following description of the legislation:

This legislation [Price Disclosure Act] requires persons or institutions providing health care services to provide the estimated/expected direct care price for medical services upon the request of the uninsured patient or of a prospective patient.

The genesis of this bill was basically to find a simple way to ensure that all citizens who desire to pay out of pocket for medical care, be they insured or uninsured, are able to obtain a reasonable estimate of what that medical care will cost, and that they will not be charged more for that medical care than citizens who are insured.

In an e-mail to Patch, Garcia said the bill "came about by request of my constituents and other NH citizens." She also touted a local company, Salem Radiology, as "a great example of a transparent, customer responsive healthcare provider."