AHA voices support for health care cost transparency bill

The AHA today expressed support for the Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act (H.R. 5547), bipartisan legislation that would promote cost transparency for health care consumers. “Consumers deserve meaningful information about the price of their hospital care, and hospital leaders are as committed to sharing price information as they are to sharing information about quality,” said AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels in a letter of support to Reps. Michael Burgess (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX), the bill’s sponsors. “The AHA believes that states, working with their state hospital associations, are the best source for sharing meaningful pricing data. In fact, 44 states already have mandatory or voluntary requirements for hospitals to report information on hospital charges or payment rates and make that data available to the public. Your legislation builds on this existing structure, and also requires insurers to participate in the disclosure process by providing information on estimated out-of-pocket costs for health care services, which is invaluable information for consumers.”