Sally Pipes: "Hospital Price Transparency is Good Politics—and Good Policy"

The following is an excerpt from an article by Sally Pipes, Founder & Chair of the Benjamin Rush Institute, published in the Washington Examiner. Click here to read the full article in your browser.

Few issues will shape this November’s midterm elections more than the rising cost of healthcare. Republicans returning home for the August recess can point to meaningful progress on one of the biggest drivers of those costs: hospital prices.

In recent weeks, Congress has moved closer to making hospital price transparency the law of the land. If those efforts succeed, patients will be able to compare prices before receiving care, employers will gain stronger tools to control healthcare spending, and hospitals will face greater pressure to compete on price as well as quality.

The House and Senate have each advanced legislation to strengthen and permanently codify hospital price transparency requirements. Together, the bills would strengthen and codify transparency requirements for hospitals’ costs and health plans while imposing tougher penalties on organizations that refuse to disclose negotiated prices.

The legislation builds on rules issued during President Donald Trump’s first term, requiring hospitals to publish negotiated prices and making it easier for patients to compare the cost of hundreds of common medical services. According to the latest data from the federal government, more than 500 hospitals in 49 states and the District of Columbia have not complied with those rules.

Few industries expect consumers to make expensive purchases without first revealing the price. Hospitals have operated that way for decades. The result has been relentless price increases, with little pressure to compete on cost for patients. Between 2000 and 2022, hospital prices climbed by more than 220% — more than twice the overall rate of inflation.

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