Hoosier State Today

Senator Braun’s bipartisan Health Care PRICE Transparency Act was the focus of a hearing in the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging on Thursday. The hearing, titled “Health Care Transparency: Lowering Costs and Empowering Patients,” addressed challenges in the current health care system due to a lack of price transparency and competition. It also explored ways to improve the system for patients, people with disabilities, older adults, and families.

The hearing highlighted instances where patients and plan beneficiaries were negatively impacted by poor transparency. It also examined how unions and employers have achieved significant savings by utilizing data effectively. Senator Braun released a report on health care price transparency, which is available online.

Senator Braun’s Health Care PRICE Transparency Act continues to gain bipartisan support. The bill proposes several measures including requiring machine-readable files of all negotiated rates and cash prices between plans and providers, expanding price transparency requirements to clinical diagnostic labs, imaging centers, and ambulatory surgical centers, and mandating pricing data standards including all billing codes for services. Additionally, it calls for actual prices for 300 shoppable services by 2025, executive attestation of accurate pricing, increased penalties for non-compliance, prevention of preemption of state price transparency laws (except for ERISA group health plans), codification of the Transparency in Coverage rule, and granting group health plans the right to access, audit, and review claims encounter data.

In his remarks during the hearing, Senator Braun emphasized the escalating costs of health care in the United States. "Health care costs are skyrocketing. In 2023, we spent $4.8 trillion on health care, a whopping 17 percent of our GDP," he stated. He pointed out that these high costs are often hidden behind deceptive practices that make health care unaffordable for many Americans.

Braun underscored the importance of transparency in combating these costs: "When people go to the hospital, they have no idea how much their care will cost." He noted that prices for the same procedure can vary significantly between hospitals due to a lack of transparency and competition.

He highlighted bipartisan efforts to address this issue: "President Trump put in place regulations requiring hospitals and insurers to disclose prices, and President Biden has continued to support it." Braun called for Congress to enact additional transparency measures across the health care supply chain.

Braun mentioned that he had introduced the Health Care PRICE Transparency Act 2.0 alongside Senator Bernie Sanders. This bill aims to reveal health care prices for Americans similarly to a House-passed bill yet to be considered in the Senate.

He expressed gratitude towards Senators Warren and Fetterman for joining as cosponsors: "Our bill pulls back the curtain by requiring all negotiated rates and cash prices between plans and providers to be accessible."

The bill also includes provisions allowing group health plans to review and audit their claims data. According to Braun, this will enable self-insured employers and unions to adjust their plans accordingly.

Braun concluded his remarks by expressing hope for continued bipartisan collaboration: "I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get the Health Care Price Transparency Act 2.0 to the President’s desk."

He then played a video illustrating how price transparency can positively impact patients' lives.