Isn’t Everyone Entitled to Know the Cost of Care?

The President’s Executive Order Demands Healthcare Cost Transparency

We have long chronicled the huge price swings that often exist among healthcare providers in the same locales. To combat this situation and help patients find low cost, high-quality care, the President recently signed an executive order directing HHS to develop rules requiring hospitals to publish clear and understandable pricing that reflects what people will actually pay for tests, surgeries and other procedures. HHS also wants the rules to ensure that providers and insurers give patients information about their potential out-of-pocket costs before receiving care.

While lobbyists argue that this requirement will only drive prices higher, the administration sees enabling patients to know how much hospitals charge as a relatively simple idea – one that will promote greater competition for health services and reduce costs for consumers.

When the Administration required hospitals to post prices online earlier this year, the step had little impact. Data included billing codes that few people could decipher and list prices which few people ever pay. While the rules for this order must be developed, it is intended to require that hospitals disclose what patients and insurers actually pay in a format that patients can understand.

We’re certain that the rules will not be written overnight and not without loads of input. But if an executive order can lead to an environment where patients can understand what costs lie ahead and how to find more affordable, high-quality options, then let’s give it a shot.

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