The AHA submitted a statement July 11 for a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on health care transparency and lowering health care costs. The AHA highlighted commercial insurer operating methods and prescription drug costs as cost drivers incurred by hospitals and health systems. AHA urged Congress for additional oversight of Medicare Advantage plans to stop tactics that restrict and delay care access and called for regulatory and legislative solutions to improve prior authorization processes. Recent legislative efforts to no longer recognize price estimator tools as a method to meet the shoppable services requirement of the Hospital Price Transparency Rule are also a concern, AHA said. As Congress looks at statutory adjustments to the rule, AHA urged consideration of the changes that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services makes on a regular basis. The most recent changes are related to standardization, new data elements, file accessibility, an accuracy and completeness affirmation and changes to CMS’ monitoring and enforcement processes.

Related News Articles

Headline
The Government Accountability Office May 29 released a report recommending the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services target behavioral health services…
Headline
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury May 22 released several new guidance documents and requests for information on price…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services May 21 announced it will immediately begin annual audits of all Medicare Advantage plans and work to clear a…
Headline
Leaders from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the 2025 AHA Annual Membership Meeting May 5 discussed issues on the agency’s agenda in a…
Headline
The AHA April 30 released a report highlighting how hospitals and health systems continue to experience significant financial headwinds that can challenge…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services April 10 released key priorities for new CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, who was confirmed to the position April…