Three congressional committees advanced competing health care price transparency bills within two weeks of each other, and while all three keep the existing hospital and insurer disclosure framework intact, they split over a question that determines what patients would actually see before care.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act by 21 to 1. The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act by 45 to 0. The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Health Care Price Certainty for All Americans Act on a 25 to 15 party-line vote. A fourth measure, the Prices on the Wall Act, cleared Energy and Commerce 24 to 21 and would require hospitals and surgery centers to physically post cash prices inside their facilities.
