The lack of price transparency is a major\u00a0reason for this\u00a0health care hyperinflation.\u00a0For too long, powerful hospitals, health insurance companies, and industry middlemen\u00a0have hidden prices from Americans so they can profiteer.\u00a0Almost all Americans have a health care billing horror story, such as\u00a0$2,400 for blood tests<\/a>,\u00a0$8,400 for a breast biopsy<\/a>, and\u00a0$660<\/a>\u00a0for a five-minute telehealth appointment.<\/p>\n By requiring with upfront prices, including discounted cash and negotiated insurance rates (not unaccountable estimates), our bill empowers consumers to substantially reduce costs through competition and choice. Patients can choose\u00a0$300 MRIs<\/a>\u00a0at standalone imaging centers and\u00a0$1,000<\/a>\u00a0for colonoscopies at an ambulatory surgical center instead of paying\u00a0$3,000<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0$10,000<\/a>\u00a0for the same services at their local hospital.<\/p>\n \t\t\t \t\t\t\t Many working-age Americans receive coverage through their employer or union, and our bill gives\u00a0these health plans the tools they need to reduce skyrocketing costs that reduce worker wages and take-home pay.\u00a0According to KFF<\/a>, the average annual employer-sponsored health premium is $24,000, a 50% increase over the past decade.<\/p>\n A recent JAMA\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0found that health care\u00a0premiums as a share of total employee compensation have more than doubled since 1988.\u00a0Increasing health care costs are a major\u00a0reason that real worker wages are stagnant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n With upfront prices, employers and unions can design a benefit where workers get the best quality, lowest price care, and share savings in the form of reduced premiums and higher wages. Our bill also gives employers and unions access to claims data, which plan administrators routinely hide, allowing them to spot price gouging and wide price variations.<\/p>\n Our legislation would reveal\u00a0the inflationary \u201cspread pricing\u201d and kickback schemes among vertically integrated health insurers, third-party administrators, pharmacy benefit managers, and their vendors, so\u00a0employers and unions can\u00a0rectify overbilling and design affordable plans.<\/p>\n Returning national health expenditures to worker paychecks and family budgets where they belong will generate an enormous economic stimulus. Economists project that systemwide price transparency will reduce national health expenditures by\u00a0approximately $1 trillion<\/a>\u00a0per year. This estimate tracks\u00a0a 2019 JAMA study<\/a>\u00a0that finds\u00a0nearly 25% of national health care spending is waste, overcharges, and fraud.<\/p>\n I practiced medicine before joining the Senate, and I saw firsthand that patients routinely couldn\u2019t access the upfront prices they needed before treatment. Physicians want what\u2019s best for their patients, and our bill finally gives them the financial peace of mind they deserve. The bill codifies and strengthens President Trump\u2019s hospital price transparency rule and expands its requirements to ambulatory surgery centers, clinical labs, and imaging centers. It also boosts enforcement, as the current rate of hospital compliance is unacceptable, with a report by PatientRightsAdvocate.org estimating it to be around 21%<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1741292941-768x432.jpg\")
\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/wp-content\/themes\/stat\/images\/home\/statplus.svg\")
\n\t\t\t\tThe murkiness of drug companies\u2019 price transparency reports<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AdobeStock_220223657-768x432.jpeg\")
\t\t<\/p>\n