NE Washington News

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers has expressed concerns over the Biden-Harris administration's enforcement of health care price transparency rules. This follows a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlighting issues with the accuracy and completeness of price disclosures by hospitals.

Rodgers stated, “The American people are facing ever increasing health care costs, yet the Biden-Harris administration is failing to ensure price transparency rules are followed and pricing information is accurate. Americans cannot wait any longer; Congress must act.” She emphasized the importance of the bipartisan Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, which aims to enhance these rules and provide patients with necessary information for informed decisions about their health care.

The GAO report was in response to a request made in November 2022 by then Committee Chair Frank Pallone, Jr., and then Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers. The findings indicated that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have not evaluated whether hospital price transparency files are complete or accurate enough to meet program goals. The GAO recommended that CMS should assess these files' usability and consider additional enforcement measures if needed.

GAO's key findings included: “CMS has not assessed whether hospital price transparency machine-readable files are sufficiently complete and accurate to support program goals, and accordingly whether additional enforcement actions are needed.”

The bipartisan Lower Costs, More Transparency Act passed in the House with significant support aims to address these issues by saving seniors money and strengthening Medicare. Rodgers continues to advocate for this legislation in collaboration with the Senate.