Survey Finds Overwhelming Support for Health Care Price Transparency 

By Consumers for Quality Care, on September 25, 2024

Nearly all consumers nationwide want hospitals and health insurers to be more transparent about the cost of medical services and procedures, according to a survey commissioned by Patient Rights Advocate and reported by The Hill. 

Nearly all consumers, 92 percent of those surveyed, want federal requirements for hospitals and insurers to provide “real, actual prices, not estimates.” Additionally, 77 percent of respondents said they would prefer a President who prioritizes price transparency in health care. 

When asked about what sort of debt was most concerning, 77 percent of consumers said medical debt, followed by credit card debt and student loan debt.  

More than one-third of consumers (35 percent) reported skipping or delaying medical care because they didn’t know how much their care would cost. Consumers reported that out-of-pocket costs were their biggest concern, including health-insurance fees, the cost of medications, and the cost of a hospital visit. 

Hospitals are supposed to follow federal price-transparency rules, but Patient Rights Advocate found that just 34.5 percent of hospitals are complying with the federal law. 

Health care price transparency is an issue that effects nearly all Americans in some way, according to Kristen Soltis Anderson, who helped conduct the survey. “It’s not often these days that I see such enormous broad-based agreement across party lines around an issue, but that’s what this data says about price transparency in healthcare.” 

Responding to the overwhelming support consumers want in health care price transparency, Cynthia A. Fisher, Founder and Chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org, called on lawmakers to address this issue.  

Consumers for Quality Care believes patients have a right to the information they need to compare costs and make informed decisions about their health care.