Key Takeaway:
- On Tuesday, Feb. 25, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing increased enforcement of price transparency requirements.
On Tuesday, Feb. 25, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Making America Healthy Again by Empowering Patients with Clear, Accurate, and Actionable Healthcare Pricing Information” (the Executive Order). The Executive Order directs federal agencies to increase enforcement of price transparency requirements and “take all necessary steps to improve existing price transparency requirements.” Specifically, the Executive Order directs the secretary of the Treasury, the secretary of Labor and the secretary of Health and Human Services to do the following within 90 days of the Executive Order’s signing:
- Require the disclosure of the actual prices, not estimates, of items and services.
- Issue updated guidance or proposed regulatory action ensuring pricing information is standardized and easily comparable across hospitals and health plans.
- Issue guidance or proposed regulatory action updating enforcement policies designed to ensure compliance with the transparent reporting of complete, accurate and meaningful data.
The price transparency rules currently require hospitals to post a machine-readable file of standard charges, using one of three Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services templates, for all their items and services for all payers and for self-pay cash rates. Hospitals must also post prices or a price estimator tool that offers details on the charges for certain shoppable services.
The full Executive Order can be found online here.
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