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The Senate HELP Committee has passed the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act — the strongest hospital price transparency legislation discussed in Congress this year, and other policies to strengthen oversight into health care corporations’ financial arrangements and to lower the cost of prescription drugs. The Act aims to end the practice of hospitals posting price estimates and opaque figures that obscure actual pricing by requiring hospitals to post prices in dollars and cents, without exception. The committee has also advanced proposals to reduce the cost of insulin for patients outside of Medicare, expand on the success of the Inflation Reduction Act, and remove administrative barriers that delay generic drug approvals.
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Senate HELP Committee Passes Key Hospital Price Transparency Act
Recently, the Senate HELP Committee passed the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. This follows closely on the heels of a similar piece of legislation that was passed by the House Energy & Commerce Committee. This Act is the most potent hospital price transparency legislation discussed in Congress this year.
Anthony Wright, the executive director of Families USA, responded to this and other policy proposals aimed at increasing transparency. These proposals include strengthening oversight into health care corporation ownership and financial arrangements and working to lower the cost and improve access to prescription drugs.
Hospital Price Transparency Act: A Win for Patients
According to Anthony Wright, the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act will require hospitals to end their practice of posting estimates, algorithms, and opaque figures that obscure actual pricing. Instead, they will need to post prices in dollars and cents, without exception. He commended the bipartisan supporters in the Senate HELP Committee for moving this bill forward.
He added, “Price transparency is a key tool in exposing excessive pricing. Once the price gouging is exposed, the real work can be done to lower health care costs.
Wright further stressed the importance of transparency in health care ownership arrangements and the increasing influence of private equity in the health system. He noted, “This transparency is critical for confronting the corporatization of care.”
Committee Also Advances Policies to Address Prescription Drug Costs
The committee’s actions weren’t only limited to hospital price transparency. They also advanced policies to address the high cost of prescription drugs. This was particularly evident with proposals to reduce the cost of insulin for patients outside of Medicare, based on the successful Inflation Reduction Act.
Additionally, the committee sought to expedite the approval of generics by removing administrative barriers and curtailing the use of sham citizen petitions that often delay generic drug approvals by big drug corporations.
Momentum for Health Care Affordability
These bipartisan bills have the backing of a broad consumer and community coalition. This coalition is actively advocating for these solutions during their health care affordability week of action. The passage of the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, alongside a similar bill in the House, demonstrates the momentum on Capitol Hill for addressing high health care costs.
Highlighting the urgency, Wright stated, “Americans are angry about health care corporations’ high, inflated and irrational health care prices – but furious that federal policymakers haven’t done enough to rein them in. Committee votes are a first step, but now is the time for Congress to finish the job and take these initial steps on hospital and prescription drug prices.”
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