Price Transparency: A Catalyst For Affordable Healthcare
Forbes December 5, 2024
The Hospital Price Transparency Rule, implemented four years ago by the Department of Health and Human Services, requires U.S. hospitals to disclose their charges, commercial negotiated prices, and cash prices. The goal is to stimulate price competition and contain healthcare spending. So, what have we learned?
As my coauthors and I discussed in Health Affairs Forefront this week, compliance remains incomplete, and the agency’s enforcement efforts require improvement. A November report from PatientRightsAdvocate.org found that only 21% of hospitals fully complied with the rule.
Nevertheless, a recent analysis from Turquoise Health found that average commercial prices for common hospital services have dropped since the rule’s implementation, highlighting the promising potential of price transparency to curb price increases.
The disclosed pricing...