Senators Push for Price Transparency in Health Care

By Consumers for Quality Care, on July 24, 2024

During a recent hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senators on both sides of the aisle called on insurers and hospitals to better serve consumers by disclosing prices for medical procedures and services, according to Fierce Healthcare.  

Witnesses called to testify during the hearing included policy researchers as well as those who purchase health insurance plans for employees and union members. They agreed that initiatives implemented by both the Trump and Biden administrations have helped improve price transparency. But many insurers are convoluting price-transparency rules by using “draconian” tactics that obscure pricing information. “That is the ultimate behavior of a monopoly,” said Senator Mike Braun (R-IN). “Remember, they are the suppliers, and this is going against their own customers.”  

Senator Braun has called for increased health care price transparency to address “skyrocketing healthcare prices.” For example, armed with pricing information, purchasers can negotiate with insurers when selecting a health care plan.  

During the hearing, Senator Robert Casey Jr. (D-PA) asked Brown University School of Public Health Researcher Chris Whaley, Ph.D. about the relationship between health care consolidation and prices. Whaley testified that consolidation not only leads to higher prices for medical care but also worsens care quality, hurting consumers.  

Legislators have introduced the Health Care PRICE Transparency Act 2.0, which would make health care prices more accessible, impose penalties on entities that don’t comply, and give group health plans more leverage in contesting questionable charges.  

In his remarks, Senator Braun noted that shielding prices the way the health care industry does deviates from business practices found in any other consumer-facing industry. “I don’t know of one other industry where we’ve had to bring, at the federal government level, a transparency bill. Every other industry out there engages with an informed consumer,” said Senator Braun. “The industry better take note that it isn’t normal to operate the way they do.” 

CQC urges increased oversight to ensure that hospitals and insurers disclose accurate price-transparency data in a timely, accessible way that benefits consumers. Patients and purchasers have a right to the information they need to compare costs. Additionally, hospitals and insurers should be held accountable when they fail to provide this information.