With the new Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, a bipartisan group of senators is pushing to effectively codify President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring price transparency from health care providers.
The bill is cosponsored by Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.
Republicans Sens. Tim Sheehy of Montana, Chuck Grassley, and Joni Ernst of Iowa, along with New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan, have also signed on in support of the bill.
Grassley spoke glowingly of the bill Friday on the social media platform X, saying, “We need SUNSHINE on health care prices 2 bring accountability Proud 2 join bipartisan Patients Deserve Price Tags Act Consumers should know price of health care services b4 u buy Its common sense Bill will hold health care providers accountable & give u timely/accurate info.”
The bill would require hospitals to provide clear pricing on their services and also requires itemized bills for health plans from providers so patients have more information as to what they will pay.
It essentially codifies into enforceable law the intent of Trump’s February executive order directing executive agencies to implement regulations requiring price transparency.
The idea is that price disclosure requirements would allow for Americans to “shop for the highest-quality care at the lowest cost,” in the words of the president.
Trump implemented price transparency regulations during his first term, which continued under President Joe Biden, but were not stringently enforced.
Ilaria Santangelo, a director of research at Patient Rights Advocate, an organization that advocates for price-transparency legislation, told The Daily Signal that in a statement that with the bill, “Americans will be equipped to get the care that they need at prices they know they can afford, and ultimately enjoy longer, healthier lives.”
Price-transparency requirements win rare bipartisan support in Washington.
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a bill in May to codify Trump’s price policies, together with Republican Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Andy Biggs of Arizona as cosponsors. D-Calif., introduced a bill in May to codify Trump’s price policies, together with Republican Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Andy Biggs of Arizona as cosponsors.
In January, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., joined Grassley in a statement urging pharmaceutical companies to disclose prices in advertisements.