A long-sought after goal of advocates aiming to rein in spiraling healthcare costs has been price transparency that lets consumers see up front what hospitals charge for routine procedures.
An executive order by President Donald Trump in 2019 set out a framework for price transparency standards that hospitals had to meet for the first time. But in 2023, an by the group Patients Rights Advocate found that many hospitals in Louisiana and across the nation were not meeting those standards.
Last week, word came that the federal government is not ignoring the problem. Since April, The Associated Press reported, the Trump administration has sent out to more than 500 hospitals across the country, including 27 in Louisiana, warning them they were not meeting the standards. The hospitals could face penalties of up to $2 million annually if they don鈥檛 make a plan to post clear pricing data in the near future.
Some big names on the list in Louisiana were Baton Rouge General鈥檚 Bluebonnet campus and its nearby rehabilitation hospital and Manning Family Children鈥檚 Hospital, part of the nonprofit LCMC network in New Orleans. Others on the list were mostly specialty hospitals and behavioral facilities. Baton Rouge General said some of the issues had to do with how the information was displayed on its website and said it would be 鈥渕aking improvements.鈥� Similarly, Manning Family Children鈥檚 said that it had pricing available on its website for years but they are working to ensure the files meet the requirements. We are glad to see these two institutions willing to work toward a resolution.
We are also glad to see that the Trump administration is diligently pursuing the issue. Healthcare costs are one of the most stubbornly intractable problems in our economy. Families in America go bankrupt trying to pay for procedures to save or improve the lives of loved ones.
We believe price transparency is an important tool that will help consumers and providers alike by making it possible to shop around for nonemergency care. We do not see that the information required to be posted online is onerous, but rather, it is useful to consumers and employers, who often must absorb higher costs for their health plans when their employees don鈥檛 have clear information.
The administration is pushing for hospitals to make it easier for patients to access the price lists and to make sure they are based on real costs and not just estimates.
We think that is reasonable. We know there are many drivers of cost in our healthcare system, but allowing consumers to know what they are paying for is a start. Sometimes government can help markets work better, and in this case, we see price transparency rules as not a cure-all, but as an essential prescription for success in the future.