"The idea echoes a policy implemented during his first term, when Trump suggested that requiring hospitals to post their charges online could ease one of the most common gripes about the health care system the lack of upfront prices. To anyone who's gotten a bill three months after treatment only to find mysterious charges, the idea seemed intuitive. "You're able to go online and compare all of the hospitals and the doctors and the prices,""
"But amid low compliance and other struggles implementing the policy since it took effect in 2021, the available price data is sparse and often confusing. And instead of patients shopping for medical services, it's mostly health systems and insurers using the little data there is, turning it into fodder for negotiations that determine what medical professionals and facilities get paid for what services."
"turning it into fodder for negotiations that determine what medical professionals and facilities get paid for what services. "We use the transparency data," said Eric Hoag, an executive at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, noting that the insurer wants to make sure providers aren't being paid substantially different rates. It's "to make sure that we are competitive, or, you know, more than competitive against other health plans.""
Republican proposals emphasize consumer-driven health care and funding health savings accounts, along with requirements for providers and insurers to post prices. The transparency push traces to a policy that required posting hospital charges online to address lack of upfront pricing and surprise bills. Since the 2021 rule took effect, compliance has been low, leaving available price data sparse and often confusing. Rather than enabling patient shopping for services, the existing data is primarily used by health systems and insurers to inform negotiations and compare rates, with many hospitals slow to comply and only about a third meeting early requirements.
Read at www.npr.org
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